


The Poseidon Twins

by Send_help_im_drowning



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 83
Words: 152,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22197721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Send_help_im_drowning/pseuds/Send_help_im_drowning
Summary: (This story starts at The Lost Hero)Chrissie Jackson, fraternal twin sister to Percy Jackson, is going crazy; just four months after the Second Titan War, her brother was kidnapped from their cabin as they slept. Just three days later, Hera sends his girlfriend and her best friend Annabeth a message to go to the Grand Canyon to seek out the boy with one shoe.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Original Female Character(s), Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Piper McLean/Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano
Comments: 13
Kudos: 108





	1. Chapter 1

**CHRISSIE**

"Where is he?" Annabeth asked the three teens with her knife drawn. I followed suit, clenching my hands around my dual-sided twin daggers.

“Where’s who?” The blond guy asked. I frowned as Annabeth turned to the other two. “What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?”  
  
The dark-haired guy cleared his throat. “He got taken by some... tornado things.”  
  
“Venti,” Blondie said. “Storm spirits.”

Annabeth arched an eyebrow. “You mean _anemoi thuellai_? That’s the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"

When Blondie was about halfway through their story, Butch came over. He stood there, arms crossed, and I could see the elfish-looking guy eyeing the rainbow tattoo on his biceps. I turned back to Blondie, who now had a name, and when he finished talking, I'd decided to personally strangle Hera. Annabeth seemed to match my anger.

“No, no, no! She told me he would be here. She told me if I came here, I’d find the answer.”  
  
“Annabeth,” Butch grunted. “Check it out.” He pointed at Jason’s feet.  
  
"No," I growled.  
  
“The guy with one shoe,” Butch insisted. “He’s the answer.”  
  
“No, Butch,” Annabeth agreed with me. “He can’t be. I was tricked.” She glared at the sky.

“What do you want from me?” she screamed.

“What have you done with him?" I added, stomping my foot and accidentally cracking the earth.  
  
The skywalk shuddered - not my doing this time - and the horses whinnied urgently.  
  
“Annabeth,” said Butch, “we gotta leave. Let’s get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back.”  
  
We both fumed for a moment. “Fine.” She fixed Jason with a resentful look. “We’ll settle this later.”  
  
She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.  
  
Piper shook her head. “What’s her problem? What’s going on?”  
  
“Seriously,” Leo agreed.  
  
“We have to get you out of here,” Butch said. “I’ll explain on the way.”  
  
“I’m not going anywhere with her.” Jason gestured toward my best friend. “She looks like she wants to kill me.”  
  
I rolled my eyes.

“Don't judge Annabeth," I muttered before following her.

Butch and the three new demigods followed us after a moment or two, as I was trying to calm down Astra - my pegasus - and Porkpie.

The new kids stood in the back of the chariot while Butch handled the reins and Annabeth adjusted Daedalus' shield. We rose over the Grand Canyon and headed east, icy wind ripping straight through my camo jacket. Behind us, more storm clouds were gathering.  
  
The chariot lurched and bumped. The short guy, Leo, seemed to enjoy it, though. “This is so cool!” He spit a pegasus feather out of his mouth. “Where are we going?”  
  
“A safe place,” I said. “The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood.”  
  
“Half-Blood?” Piper immediately looked to be on guard. “Is that some kind of bad joke?”  
  
“She means we’re demigods,” Jason said. “Half god, half mortal.”  
  
I looked back.

“You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Chrissie is a daughter of Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes. Butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess.”  
  
Leo choked. “Your mom is a rainbow goddess?”  
  
“Got a problem with that?” Butch said.  
  
“No, no,” Leo said. “Rainbows. Very macho.”  
  
“Butch is our best equestrian,” Annabeth said. "Aside from Poseidon's offspring, Iris' kids get along the best with the pegasi.”  
  
“Rainbows, ponies,” Leo muttered.  
  
“I’m gonna toss you off this chariot,” Butch warned.  
  
“Demigods,” Piper said. “You mean you think you’re... you think we’re-”  
  
Lightning flashed. The chariot shuddered, and Jason yelled, “Left wheel’s on fire!”  
  
I glanced over. Sure enough, the wheel was burning, white flames lapping up the side of the chariot. Percy would've been real handy right now - give him a water bottle and he could put it out. Sadly, where he got the water part of Poseidon's powers, I just got the natural disaster part, and I couldn't really solve this one with an earthquake.  
  
The wind roared. I glanced behind us and saw dark shapes forming in the clouds, more storm spirits spiraling toward the chariot - horse form.  
  
Piper started to say, “Why are they-”  
  
“Anemoi come in different shapes,” Annabeth said. “Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough.”  
  
Butch flicked the reins. The pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, and when I opened my eyes, I was home.

The cold gray ocean stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below us was a green valley, like an island of springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. Before I could reminisce, though, the wheels came off and the chariot dropped out of the sky.  
  
We tried to maintain control. The pegasi labored to hold the chariot in a flight pattern, but they were exhausted from their burst of speed, and bearing the chariot and the weight of six people was just too much.  
  
“The lake!” I yelled. “Aim for the lake!”  
  
 _I wish Percy was here,_ I thought.  
  
And then - _BOOM_.  
  
After a moment of disorientation, I sent out a call to any available water spirits in the lake. They tossed Annabeth and the new kids onto the shore, and helped Butch and I cut the wrecked harnesses off the pegasi. Fortunately, the horses were okay, but they were pretty stressed, so I occupied myself with calming them.

After the Pegasi were sufficiently de-stressed, I walked toward the shore, where a detail of campers ran up with big bronze leaf blower–looking things and blasted us with hot air; and in about two seconds my clothes were dry.  
  
There were at least twenty campers milling around - the youngest maybe nine, the oldest college age, eighteen or nineteen - and all of them had on the regular orange T-shirts like ours.

A second later the wreckage of the chariot was tossed from the lake and landed nearby with a wet crunch.  
  
“Annabeth! Chrissie!” Will Solace pushed through the crowd. “I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!”  
  
“Will, I’m sorry,” I sighed. “I’ll get it fixed, I promise.”  
  
Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper, Leo, and Jason. “These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven’t they been claimed already?”  
  
“Claimed?” Leo asked.  
  
Before either of us could explain, Will said, “Any sign of Percy?”  
  
“No,” I admitted, my voice smaller than I'd expected it to be.  
  
The campers muttered, and another girl stepped forward - tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and perfect makeup. Somehow she managed to make jeans and an orange T-shirt look glamorous.

Drew.

She glanced at Leo, fixed her eyes on Jason like he might be worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at Piper as if she were a week-old burrito that had just been pulled out of a dumpster.  
  
“Well,” she said, “I hope they’re worth the trouble.”  
  
Leo snorted. “Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?”  
  
“No kidding,” Jason said. “How about some answers before you start judging us - like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?”  
  
“Jason,” Annabeth said, “I promise we’ll answer your questions. And Drew, all demigods are worth saving. But I’ll admit, the trip didn’t accomplish what I hoped.”  
  
“Hey,” Piper said, “we didn’t ask to be brought here.”  
  
Drew sniffed. “And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?”  
  
Piper stepped forward, probably ready to smack her, but Annabeth said, “Piper, stop.”  
  
Piper did, wisely. Annabeth isn't somebody you want for an enemy.  
  
“We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome,” Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. “We’ll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they’ll be claimed.”  
  
“Would somebody tell me what claimed means?” Piper asked.  
  
Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. I turned around  
  
Floating over Leo’s head was a blazing holographic image - a fiery hammer.  
  
“That,” I said, “is claiming.”  
  
“What’d I do?” Leo backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. “Is my hair on fire?” He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.  
  
“This can’t be good,” Butch muttered. “The curse-”

“Butch, shut up,” I said. “Leo, you’ve just been claimed-”  
  
“By a god,” Jason interrupted. “That’s the symbol of Vulcan, isn’t it?”  
  
All eyes turned to him.  
  
“Jason,” Annabeth said carefully, “how did you know that?”  
  
“I’m not sure.”  
  
“Vulcan?” Leo demanded. “I don’t even _LIKE_ Star Trek. What are you talking about?”  
  
“Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus,” Annabeth said, “the god of blacksmiths and fire.”  
  
The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. “The god of what? Who?”  
  
Annabeth turned to Will. “Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in Cabin Nine.”  
  
“Sure, Annabeth.”  
  
“What’s Cabin Nine?” Leo asked. “And I’m not a Vulcan!”  
  
“Come on, Mr. Spock, I’ll explain everything.” Will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him off toward the cabins.  
  
Annabeth turned her attention back to Jason. We both studied him. He seemed nervous, yet strong. His presence reminded me somehow of Annabeth, Chiron, and my own brother - a leader's gaze.

Finally Annabeth said, “Hold out your arm.”  
  
I frowned; on the inside of his right forearm was a tattoo: a dozen straight lines like a bar code, and over that an eagle with the letters _SPQR_.  
  
“I’ve never seen marks like this,” I said. “Where did you get them?”  
  
Jason shook his head. “I’m getting really tired of saying this, but I don’t know.”  
  
The other campers pushed forward, trying to get a look at Jason’s tattoo. The marks seemed to bother them a lot - almost like a declaration of war.  
  
“They look burned into your skin,” Annabeth noticed.  
  
“They were,” Jason said. Then he winced as if his head was aching. “I mean... I think so. I don’t remember.”  
  
No one said anything as Annabeth and I frowned at each other. I flicked one brow up - our way to say 'your turn for a verdict' - and she pursed her lips and nodded.  
  
“He needs to go straight to Chiron,” Annabeth decided. “Chrissie, you take him. I'll give Piper the tour.”  
  
I nodded and grabbed Jason's arm. "C'mon, Blondie, the Big House is this way."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHRISSIE**

When Jason saw the Big House, he blanched.

"Here we are," I said nonetheless. "The Big House, camp headquarters."

A moment of silence passed.

“I am not supposed to be here,” Jason finally said.

"We all feel that way at first. Percy and I certainly took a while to adjust to the fact that Dad's a god."

"Is this Percy also a child of N- Poseidon?"

"He's my fraternal twin, so year, also a Poseidon kid. Either way, you do belong here. This is where demigods go to be safe from monsters, to train, etc."

I didn't mean to, but I kept glancing above Jason's head. He noticed.

“You’re waiting for a sign,” he guessed. “Like what popped over Leo’s head.”  
  
“Yeah. I don't think you're a Demeter or an Athena kid, or Aphrodite. Drew will be pleased when you're claimed - she's probably already making wedding plans."  
  
“Huh? But aren’t all the gods related?” Jason asked. “So isn’t everyone here everyone's cousin or something?”

"Nah. The gods don't actually have DNA. Someone from your own cabin, that'd be incest. The rest is pretty much fair game. Annabeth is actually dating my brother."

Before Jason got the chance to respond, I heard hooves on the porch.

"Chiron, this is Jason, one of the three new demigods."  
  
Jason backed up so fast he almost tripped. Chiron started to smile at Jason. Then the color drained from his face.  
  
“You...” The centaur’s eyes flared like a cornered animal’s. “You should be dead.”

"Cheerful," I muttered. "Way to scare off the newbie."  
  
Chiron ordered Jason - well, invited, but it sounded like an order - to come inside the house. When he turned to me, he told me to wait here for a few minutes until he'd have me show Jason around.

I grabbed a set of playing cards from the table on the porch, sat down on the steps, and started shuffling. Suddenly, though, I wasn't at camp anymore. I was at a beach - Montauk. Mom, Percy and I used to come here and rent a cabin.

"Hey, little one." I whipped around.

"Dad!" I wrapped my arms around him - yeah, I was a hugger, even with the literal gods. Whatever.

"Do you know where Percy is? Can you help me? Is he safe?" Poseidon looked sorrowful.

"Sorry, but I cannot tell you anything. I came to warn you. I can't reveal too much, but know that the quest you'll go on, it needs to succeed, or neither of us will see Percy again - ever."

"What?" I breathed.

"Do know, however, that if you do manage to free my sister, all you need to do is have faith in your brother. Do you understand?" I nodded, though I was still very confused.

"Then go, now, my child. They need you in the Big House."

I snapped out of my daze and rushed into the living room.

"Probably the lady in the mist,” Jason offered as I walked in.

Chiron looked up in surprise. “Weren’t you just sitting... why do you have a sword drawn? And Chrissie, why are you back here?”  
  
“I hate to tell you this,” Jason said before I could explain myself, “but I think your leopard just ate a goddess.”  
  
He told us about the frozen-in-time visit, the dark misty figure that disappeared into Seymour’s mouth.

“Oh, dear,” Chiron murmured. “That does explain a lot.”  
  
“Then why don’t you explain a lot to me?” Jason said. “Please.”  
  
Before Chiron could say anything, footsteps reverberated on the porch outside. The front door blew open, and Annabeth and Rachel burst in, dragging Piper between them. Piper’s head lolled like she was unconscious.  
  
“What happened?” I rushed over. “What’s wrong with her?”  
  
“Hera’s cabin,” Annabeth gasped, like they’d run all the way. “Vision. Bad.”  
  
Rachel looked up, and I saw that she’d been crying.  
  
“I think...” She gulped. “I think I may have killed her.”  
  
Jason and Rachel put Piper on the couch while Annabeth rushed down the hall to get a med kit. Piper was still breathing, but she wouldn’t wake up. She seemed to be in some kind of coma.  
  
“We’ve got to heal her,” Jason insisted. “There’s a way, right?”  
  
Chiron put his hand on her forehead and grimaced. “Her mind is in a fragile state. Rachel, what happened?”  
  
“I wish I knew,” she said. “As soon as I got to camp, I had a premonition about Hera’s cabin. I went inside. Annabeth and Piper came in while I was there. We talked, and then- I just blanked out. Annabeth said I spoke in a different voice.”  
  
“A prophecy?” Chiron asked.  
  
“No. The spirit of Delphi comes from within. I know how that feels. This was like long distance, a power trying to speak through me.”  
  
Annabeth ran in with a leather pouch. She knelt next to Piper. “Chiron, what happened back there - I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve heard Rachel’s prophecy voice. This was different. She sounded like an older woman. She grabbed Piper’s shoulders and told her-”  
  
“To free her from a prison?” Jason guessed.  
  
Annabeth stared at him. “How did you know that?”  
  
Chiron made a three-fingered gesture over his heart, like a ward against evil.  
  
“Jason, tell them. Annabeth, the medicine bag, please.”  
  
Chiron trickled drops from a medicine vial into Piper’s mouth while Jason explained what had happened when the room froze - the dark misty woman who had claimed to be Jason’s patron.  
  
When he was done, no one spoke.  
  
“So does this happen often?” he finally asked. “Supernatural phone calls from convicts demanding you bust them out of jail?”  
  
“Your patron,” Annabeth said. “Not your godly parent?”  
  
“No, she said patron. She also said my dad had given her my life.”  
  
Annabeth frowned. “I’ve never of heard anything like that before. You said the storm spirit on the skywalk - he claimed to be working for some mistress who was giving him orders, right? Could it be this woman you saw, messing with your mind?”  
  
“I don’t think so,” Jason said. “If she were my enemy, why would she be asking for my help? She’s imprisoned."

"Possibly one of Kronos' daughters," I put in. I told them about my dad visiting me, telling me to save his sister and have faith in my brother."

"So, apparently she's worried about some enemy getting more powerful. Something about a king rising from the earth on the solstice-”

Annabeth cut Jason off and turned to Chiron. “Not Kronos. Please tell me it’s not that.”  
  
The centaur looked miserable. He held Piper’s wrist, checking her pulse.

At last he said, “It is not Kronos. That threat is ended. But...”  
  
“But what?” I asked.  
  
Chiron closed the medicine bag. “Piper needs rest. We should discuss this later.”  
  
“Or now,” Jason said. “Sir, Mr. Chiron, you told me the greatest threat was coming. The last chapter. You can’t possibly mean something worse than an army of Titans, right?”  
  
“Oh,” Rachel said in a small voice. “Oh, dear. The woman was Hera. Of course. Her cabin, her voice. She showed herself to Jason at the same moment.”  
  
“Hera?” Annabeth’s snarl was even fiercer than Seymour’s. “She took you over? She did this to Piper?”  
  
“I think Rachel’s right,” Jason said. “The woman did seem like a goddess. And she wore this - this goatskin cloak. That’s a symbol of Juno, isn’t it?”  
  
“It is?” Annabeth scowled. “I’ve never heard that.”  
  
Chiron nodded reluctantly. “Of Juno, Hera’s Roman aspect, in her most warlike state. The goatskin cloak was a symbol of the Roman soldier.”

“So Hera is imprisoned?” Rachel asked. “Who could do that to the queen of the gods?”

Annabeth crossed her arms. “Well, whoever they are, maybe we should thank them. If they can shut up Hera-”  
  
“Annabeth,” Chiron warned, “she is still one of the Olympians. In many ways, she is the glue that holds the gods’ family together. If she truly has been imprisoned and is in danger of destruction, this could shake the foundations of the world. It could unravel the stability of Olympus, which is never great even in the best of times. And if Hera has asked Jason for help-”  
  
“Fine,” Annabeth grumbled. “Well, we know Titans can capture a god, right? Atlas captured Artemis a few years ago. And in the old stories, the gods captured each other in traps all the time. But something worse than a Titan...?”  
  
Jason looked at the leopard’s head. Seymour was smacking his lips like the goddess had tasted much better than a Snausage. “Hera said she’d been trying to break through her prison bonds for a month.”  
  
“Which is how long Olympus has been closed,” I realized. “So the gods must know something bad is going on.”  
  
“But why use her energy to send me here?” Jason asked. “She wiped my memory, plopped me into the Wilderness School field trip, and sent you a dream vision to come pick me up. Why am I so important? Why not just send up an emergency flare to the other gods - let them know where she is so they bust her out?”  
  
“The gods need heroes to do their will down here on earth,” Rachel said. “That’s right, isn’t it? Their fates are always intertwined with demigods.”  
  
“That’s true,” Annabeth said, “but Jason’s got a point. Why him? Why take his memory?”  
  
“And Piper’s involved somehow,” Rachel said. “Hera sent her the same message - Free me. And, Chrissie, Annabeth, this must have something to do with Percy’s disappearing, especially if Poseidon insinuated that it's linked.”

Annabeth fixed her eyes on Chiron. “Why are you so quiet, Chiron? What is it we’re facing?”  
  
The old centaur’s face looked like it had aged ten years in a matter of minutes. The lines around his eyes were deeply etched. “My dear, in this, I cannot help you. I am so sorry.”  
  
Annabeth blinked. “You’ve never... you’ve never kept information from me. Even the last great prophecy-”  
  
“I will be in my office.” His voice was heavy. “I need some time to think before dinner. Rachel, will you watch the girl? Call Argus to bring her to the infirmary, if you’d like. And Annabeth, Chrissie, you should speak with Jason. Tell him about - about the Greek and Roman gods.”  
  
“But...” I trailed off.  
  
The centaur turned his wheelchair and rolled off down the hallway. Annabeth’s eyes turned stormy. She muttered a curse in Ancient Greek.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “I think my being here - I don’t know. I’ve messed things up coming to the camp, somehow. Chiron said he’d sworn an oath and couldn’t talk about it.”  
  
“What oath?” Annabeth demanded. “I’ve never seen him act this way. And why would he tell me to talk to you about the gods...”  
  
Her voice trailed off. I followed her gaze to Jason’s sword sitting on the coffee table. Annabeth touched the blade gingerly, like it might be hot.  
  
“Is this gold?” she said. “Do you remember where you got it?”  
  
“No,” Jason said. “Like I said, I don’t remember anything.”  
  
Annabeth nodded, like she’d just come up with a rather desperate plan. “If Chiron won’t help, we’ll need to figure things out ourselves. Which means... Cabin Fifteen. Rachel, you’ll keep an eye on Piper?”  
  
“Sure,” Rachel promised. “Good luck, you guys.”  
  
“Hold on,” Jason said. “What’s in Cabin Fifteen?”  
  
I stood. “Maybe a way to get your memory back.”


	3. Chapter 3

**JASON**

We headed toward a newer wing of cabins in the southwest corner of the green. Some were fancy, with glowing walls or blazing torches, but Cabin Fifteen was not so dramatic. It looked like an old-fashioned prairie house with mud walls and a rush roof. On the door hung a wreath of crimson flowers - _red poppies_ , I thought, though I wasn’t sure how I knew.  
  
“You think this is my parent’s cabin?” I asked.  
  
“No,” Chrissie said. “This is the cabin for Hypnos, the god of sleep.”  
  
“Then why-”  
  
“You’ve forgotten everything,” Annabeth said. “If there’s any god who can help us figure out memory loss, it’s Hypnos.”  
  
Inside, even though it was almost dinnertime, three kids were sound asleep under piles of covers. A warm fire crackled in the hearth. Above the mantel hung a tree branch, each twig dripping white liquid into a collection of tin bowls. I was tempted to catch a drop on my finger just to see what it was, but I held myself back.  
  
Soft violin music played from somewhere. The air smelled like fresh laundry. The cabin was so cozy and peaceful that my eyelids started to feel heavy. A nap sounded like a great idea. I was exhausted. There were plenty of empty beds, all with feather pillows and fresh sheets and fluffy quilts and - Chrissie nudged me, hard. “Snap out of it.”  
  
I blinked. I realized my knees had been starting to buckle.  
  
“Cabin Fifteen does that to everyone,” Annabeth warned. “If you ask me, this place is even more dangerous than the Ares cabin. At least with Ares, you can learn where the land mines are.”  
  
“Land mines?”  
  
She walked up to the nearest snoring kid and shook his shoulder. “Clovis! Wake up!”  
  
The kid looked like a baby cow. He had a blond tuft of hair on a wedge-shaped head, with thick features and a thick neck. His body was stocky, but he had spindly little arms like he’d never lifted anything heavier than a pillow.  
  
“Clovis!” Annabeth shook harder, then finally knocked on his forehead about six times.  
  
“Wh-wh-what?” Clovis complained, sitting up and squinting. He yawned hugely, and both Annabeth and Chrissie yawned too.  
  
“Stop that!” Chrissie said. “We need your help.”  
  
“I was sleeping.”  
  
“You’re always sleeping.”  
  
“Good night.

Before he could pass out, Annabeth yanked his pillow off the bed.  
  
“That’s not fair,” Clovis complained meekly. “Give it back.”  
  
“First help,” Annabeth said. “Then sleep.”  
  
Clovis sighed. His breath smelled like warm milk. “Fine. What?”  
  
Annabeth explained about my problem. Every once in a while she’d snap her fingers under Clovis’s nose to keep him awake.  
  
Clovis must have been really excited, because when Annabeth was done, he didn’t pass out. He actually stood and stretched, then blinked at me. “So you don’t remember anything, huh?”  
  
“Just impressions,” I said. “Feelings, like...”  
  
“Yes?” Clovis said.  
  
“Like I know I shouldn’t be here. At this camp. I’m in danger.”  
  
“Hmm. Close your eyes.”  
  
I glanced at Chrissie, but she nodded reassuringly.  
  
I was afraid I’d end up snoring in one of the bunks forever, but I closed my eyes. My thoughts became murky, as if I were sinking into a dark lake.  
  
The next thing I knew, my eyes snapped open. I was sitting in a chair by the fire. Clovis and Annabeth knelt on either side of me, with Chrissie in front of me.  
  
“-serious, all right,” Clovis was saying.  
  
“What happened?” I said. “How long-”  
  
“Just a few minutes,” Annabeth said. “But it was tense. You almost dissolved.”  
  
I hoped she didn’t mean literally, but her expression was solemn.  
  
“Usually,” Clovis said, “memories are lost for a good reason. They sink under the surface like dreams, and with a good sleep, I can bring them back. But this...”  
  
“Lethe?” Chrissie asked.  
  
“No,” Clovis said. “Not even Lethe.”  
  
“Lethe?” I asked.  
  
Clovis pointed to the tree branch dripping milky drops above the fireplace. “The River Lethe in the Underworld. It dissolves your memories, wipes your mind clean permanently. That’s the branch of a poplar tree from the Underworld, dipped into the Lethe. It’s the symbol of my father, Hypnos. Lethe is not a place you want to go swimming.”  
  
Chrissie nodded. “Percy and I went there once. It was powerful enough to wipe the mind of a Titan - we found out the hard way.”  
  
I was suddenly glad I hadn’t touched the branch. “But... that’s not my problem?”  
  
“No,” Clovis agreed. “Your mind wasn’t wiped, and your memories weren’t buried. They’ve been stolen.”  
  
The fire crackled. Drops of Lethe water plinked into the tin cups on the mantel. One of the other Hypnos campers muttered in his sleep - something about a duck.  
  
“Stolen,” I said. “How?”  
  
“A god,” Clovis said. “Only a god would have that kind of power.”  
  
“We know that,” I said. “It was Juno. But how did she do it, and why?”  
  
Clovis scratched his neck. “Juno?”  
  
“He means Hera,” Annabeth said. “For some reason, Jason likes the Roman names.”  
  
“Hmm,” Clovis said.  
  
“What?” I asked. “Does that mean something?”  
  
“Hmm,” Clovis said again, and this time I realized he was snoring.  
  
“Clovis!” Chrissie yelled.  
  
“What? What?” His eyes fluttered open. “We were talking about pillows, right? No, gods. I remember. Greek and Roman. Sure, could be important.”  
  
“But they’re the same gods,” Annabeth said. “Just different names.”  
  
“Not exactly,” Clovis said.  
  
I sat forward, now very much awake. “What do you mean, not exactly?”  
  
“Well...” Clovis yawned. “Some gods are only Roman. Like Janus, or Pompona. But even the major Greek gods - it’s not just their names that changed when they moved to Rome. Their appearances changed. Their attributes changed. They even had slightly different personalities.”  
  
“But...” Annabeth faltered. “Okay, so maybe people saw them differently through the centuries. That doesn’t change who they are.”  
  
“Sure it does.” Clovis began to nod off, and I snapped my fingers under his nose.  
  
“Coming, Mother!” he yelped. “I mean... Yeah, I’m awake. So, um, personalities. The gods change to reflect their host cultures. You know that, girls. I mean, these days, Zeus likes tailored suits, reality television, and that Chinese food place on East Twenty-eighth Street, right? It was the same in Roman times, and the gods were Roman almost as long as they were Greek. It was a big empire, lasted for centuries. So of course their Roman aspects are still a big part of their character.”  
  
“Makes sense,” I said.  
  
Annabeth shook her head, mystified. “But how do you know all this, Clovis?”

“Oh, I spend a lot of time dreaming. I see the gods there all the time - always shifting forms. Dreams are fluid, you know. You can be in different places at once, always changing identities. It’s a lot like being a god, actually. Like recently, I dreamed I was watching a Michael Jackson concert, and then I was onstage with Michael Jackson, and we were singing this duet, and I could not remember the words for ‘The Girl Is Mine.’ Oh, man, it was so embarrassing, I-”  
  
“Clovis,” Chrissie interrupted. “Back to Rome?”  
  
“Right, Rome,” Clovis said. “So we call the gods by their Greek names because that’s their original form. But saying their Roman aspects are exactly the same - that’s not true. In Rome, they became more warlike. They didn’t mingle with mortals as much. They were harsher, more powerful - the gods of an empire.”  
  
“Like the dark side of the gods?” Annabeth asked.  
  
“Not exactly,” Clovis said. “They stood for discipline, honor, strength-”  
  
“Good things, then,” I said. For some reason, I felt the need to speak up for the Roman gods, though I wasn’t sure why it mattered to me. “I mean, discipline is important, right? That’s what made Rome last so long.”  
  
Clovis gave me a curious look. “That’s true. But the Roman gods weren’t very friendly. For instance, my dad, Hypnos... he didn’t do much except sleep in Greek times. In Roman times, they called him Somnus. He liked killing people who didn’t stay alert at their jobs. If they nodded off at the wrong time, boom - they never woke up. He killed the helmsman of Aeneas when they were sailing from Troy.”  
  
“Nice guy,” Chrissie said. “But I still don’t understand what it has to do with Jason.”  
  
“Neither do I,” Clovis said. “But if Hera took your memory, only she can give it back. And if I had to meet the queen of the gods, I’d hope she was more in a Hera mood than a Juno mood. Can I go back to sleep now?”  
  
Annabeth stared at the branch above the fire, dripping Lethe water into the cups. She looked so worried, I wondered if she was considering a drink to forget her troubles. Then she stood and tossed Clovis his pillow. “Thanks, Clovis. We’ll see you at dinner.”  
  
“Can I get room service?” Clovis yawned and stumbled to his bunk. “I feel like... zzzz...” He collapsed with his butt in the air and his face buried in pillow.  
  
“Won’t he suffocate?” I asked.  
  
“He’ll be fine,” Annabeth said. “But I’m beginning to think that you are in serious trouble.”

Chrissie ended up giving me the tour after we left Cabin 15.

"This is where we keep our weaponry, but obviously, you've got that covered." We'd arrived at the weapon shed last. "You can take a look inside, though if you'd like."

"What do you usually fight with?" I asked instead. Chrissie took two cylindrical pieces of bronze from her pocket.

"These bad boys," she answered.

"What, you hit people with these or something?" She just smiled and shook both of them once at the same time, making blades pop out of both sides of them.

"Whoa." I yanked my hands back. "I really hope that never happens on accident.

"Nah, don't worry. It only happens if the wielder actually wants them to do it."

A horn sounded in the distance.

"C'mon," She nudged me. "Dinner, then campfire.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHRISSIE**

At the campfire, Annabeth and Jason sat down on either side of me. The Apollo cabin led the sing-along with guitars and lyres, but since Percy vanished, I never really participated in it. The rest of camp did, though, and as the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.

Finally the song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. Chiron trotted up, brandishing a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. “Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I’m happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we’ll get to the s’mores, but first-”  
  
“What about capture the flag?” somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out from underneath Cabin Five's banner.

“Yes,” the centaur said. “I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games.”

“And kill people!” Mike Trent shouted.  
  
“However,” Chiron said, “until the dragon is brought under control, that won’t be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?”  
  
He turned to the Hephaestus cabin. I caught Leo winking at Piper and shooting her a finger gun. Meanwhile, Nyssa stood uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket, with her hair covered in a red bandanna. “We’re working on it.”  
  
More grumbling.  
  
“How, Nyssa?” Clarisse demanded.  
  
“Really hard,” she responded.  
  
Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones - _bang, bang, bang -_ and the campers fell silent.  
  
“We will have to be patient,” Chiron said. “In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss.”  
  
“Percy?” someone asked. The fire dimmed even further, as did my own mood.  
  
Chiron gestured to us. Annabeth took a deep breath and we stood.  
  
“I didn’t find Percy,” she announced. Her voice caught a little when she said his name, so I took over.

“He wasn’t at the Grand Canyon like we thought. But we’re not giving up. We’ve got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis - everyone’s out looking. We will find him. Chiron’s talking about something different. A new quest.”  
  
“It’s the Great Prophecy, isn’t it?” a girl called out.  
  
Everyone turned. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. They’d been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention until their leader stood up: Drew.  
  
Everyone was surprised; Drew didn’t address the crowd very often.  
  
“Drew?” Annabeth said. “What do you mean?”  
  
“Well, come on.” Drew spread her hands like the truth was obvious. “Olympus is closed. Percy’s disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?”  
  
Piper whispered to Rachel, “What’s she talking about - the Great Prophecy?”  
  
Then she seemed to realize everyone else was looking at Rachel, too.  
  
“Well?” Drew called down. “You’re the oracle. Has it started or not?”  
  
Rachel’s eyes looked scary in the firelight.

“Yes,” she said. “The Great Prophecy has begun.”  
  
Pandemonium broke out. I caught Annabeth's eye, and we sent each other a look like _not again_.  
  
When the talking finally subsided, Rachel took another step toward the audience, and fifty-plus demigods leaned away from her, as if one skinny redheaded mortal was more intimidating than all of them put together.  
  
“For those of you who have not heard it,” Rachel said, “the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this:  
  
“ _Eight half-bloods shall answer the call,_

 _To storm or fire the world must fall-_ ”  
  
Jason shot to his feet. His eyes looked wild, like he’d just been tasered.  
  
Even Rachel seemed caught off guard. “J-Jason?” she said. “What’s-”  
  
“ _Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus_ ,” he chanted. “ _Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem_.”  
  
An uneasy silence settled on the group. I could see from everyone's faces that several of them were trying to translate the lines. I just looked at Rachel, who seemed to have recognized them.  
  
“You just... finished the prophecy,” she stammered. “ _-An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death_. How did you-”  
  
“I know those lines.” Jason winced and put his hands to his temples. “I don’t know how, but I _know_ that prophecy.”  
  
“In Latin, no less,” Drew called out. “Handsome and smart.”  
  
There was some giggling from the Aphrodite cabin, and I rolled my eyes. Sadly, it didn’t do much to break the tension. The campfire was burning a chaotic, nervous shade of green.

Jason sat down, looking embarrassed, so I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, stranger things happen all the time around here."  
  
Rachel still looked a little shaken. She glanced back at Chiron for guidance, but the centaur stood grim and silent, as if he were watching a play he couldn’t interrupt - a tragedy that ended with a lot of people dead onstage.  
  
“Well,” Rachel said, trying to regain her composure. “So, yeah, that’s the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it’s starting now. I can’t give you proof. It’s just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The eight demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here.”  
  
The campers began to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd called out, “I’m here! Oh … were you calling roll?”  
  
“Go back to sleep, Clovis,” someone yelled, and a lot of people laughed.  
  
“Anyway,” Rachel continued, “we don’t know what the Great Prophecy means. We don’t know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad.”  
  
“Or worse,” Chiron murmured.  
  
Maybe he didn’t mean everyone to overhear, but they did. The campfire immediately turned dark purple, the same color as Piper’s dream.  
  
“What we do know,” Rachel said, “is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken.”  
  
Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once.  
  
Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel still had to wait before she could get back their attention.  
  
She told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk - how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods.  
  
Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera’s cabin. Piper tried to keep a calm expression, even when she must've noticed Drew in the back row, pantomiming a faint, and her friends giggling. I broke in with my talk to my dad, and finally Rachel told them about Jason’s vision in the living room of the Big House.  
  
“Jason,” she said. “Um... do you remember your last name?”  
  
He looked self-conscious, but he shook his head.  
  
“We’ll just call you Jason, then,” Rachel said. “It’s clear Hera herself has issued you a quest.”  
  
Rachel paused, giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone’s eyes were on him; I remembered when that was Percy and me.

Jason looked brave and determined. He set his jaw and nodded. “I agree.”  
  
“You must save Hera to prevent a great evil,” Rachel continued. “Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don’t yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now.”  
  
“That’s the council day of the gods,” Annabeth said. “If the gods don’t already know Hera’s gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They’ll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That’s what they usually do.”  
  
“The winter solstice,” Chiron spoke up, “is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things... stir.”  
  
The way he said it, stirring sounded absolutely sinister - like it should be a first-degree felony, not something you did to cookie dough.  
  
“Okay,” I said, glaring at the centaur. “Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever’s going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so-”  
  
“Why hasn’t he been claimed?” somebody yelled from the Ares cabin. “If he’s so important-”  
  
“He has been claimed,” Chiron announced. “Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration.”  
  
At first, Jason didn’t seem to understand. He stepped forward nervously, and glanced at Piper, who nodded encouragingly. She mimicked flipping a coin.  
  
Jason reached into his pocket. His coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a lance - a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end.  
  
The other demigods gasped. Rachel, Annabeth and I had to step back to avoid the point, which looked sharp as an ice pick.  
  
“Wasn’t that...” Annabeth hesitated. “I thought you had a sword.”  
  
“Um, it came up tails, I think,” Jason said. “Same coin, long-range weapon form.”  
  
“Dude, I want one!” yelled somebody from Ares cabin.  
  
“Better than Clarisse’s electric spear, Lamer!” one of his brothers agreed.  
  
“Electric,” Jason murmured, like that was a good idea. “Back away.”  
  
We got the message. Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky. Every hair on my arms stood straight up. Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell.  
  
When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in my ears subsided, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders rained down everywhere. A burning log had impaled itself a few inches from Clovis, who hadn’t even stirred.  
  
Jason lowered his lance. “Um... sorry.”  
  
Chiron brushed some burning coals out of his beard. He grimaced as if his worst fears had been confirmed. “A little overkill, perhaps, but you’ve made your point. And I believe we know who your father is.”  
  
“Jupiter,” Jason said. “I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky.”  
  
Everything broke into chaos. Dozens of people started asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.  
  
“Hold it!” she said. “How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three... their pact not to have mortal kids... how could we not have known about him sooner?”

"He's, what, sixteen?" I added. "How could he have survived alone, when Percy and I were first targeted at age twelve?"  
  
Chiron didn’t answer, but I got the feeling he knew. And the truth was not good.  
  
“The important thing,” Rachel said, “is that Jason’s here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy.”  
  
She closed her eyes and swooned. Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, like the'd trained for. They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. Without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around Rachel’s feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient - the sound a snake would make if it could talk:  
  
“ _Children of three, beware the earth,_

_The giants’ revenge the seven shall birth,_

_The forge and dove shall break the cage,_

_And death unleash through Hera’s rage_.”  
  
On the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.  
  
“Is that normal?” Piper asked. Then she realized everyone was looking at her. “I mean... does she spew green smoke a lot?”  
  
“Gods, you’re dense!” Drew sneered. “She just issued a prophecy - Jason’s prophecy to save Hera! Why don’t you just-”  
  
“Drew,” I snapped. “Piper asked a fair question. Something about that prophecy definitely isn’t normal. If breaking Hera’s cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death... why would we free her? It might be a trap, or- or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She’s never been kind to heroes.”  
  
Jason rose. “I don’t have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can’t just not help the queen of the heavens if she’s in trouble.”  
  
A girl from Hephaestus cabin stood up - Nyssa. “Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son - our dad - down a mountain just because he was ugly.”  
  
“Real ugly,” snickered someone from Aphrodite.  
  
“Shut up!” Nyssa growled. “Anyway, we’ve also got to think - why beware the earth? And what’s the giants’ revenge? What are we dealing with here that’s powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?”  
  
No one answered, Annabeth and I had a silent exchange with Chiron. Annabeth's look was one of disbelief, Chiron's look warning her not to speak of it. I caught on, my eyes showing my annoyance. Chiron shut us both up with a final look.  
  
Annabeth took a deep breath. “It’s Jason’s quest,” she announced, “so it’s Jason’s choice. Obviously, he’s a child of three; the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades."

"The prophecy calls for multiple Big Three children," I added. "With my brother disappeared, and Nico gone to search for him, I'm the only other one, so I'll have to go too."

Annabeth nodded. "According to tradition, you guys could choose any companion, but this prophecy seems to call for two.”

We caught each other's eye in slight hesitation; hopefully, one extra member wouldn't endanger the quest too much. Our concentration broke when Travis yelled out, “Well, you, obviously, Annabeth. You’ve got the most experience.”  
  
“No, Travis,” Annabeth said. “First off, I’m not helping Hera. Every time I’ve tried, she’s deceived me, or it’s come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I’m leaving first thing in the morning to find Percy.”  
  
“It’s connected,” Piper spoke up. “You know that’s true, don’t you? This whole business, your brother and boyfriend’s disappearance - it’s all connected.”  
  
“How?” demanded Drew. “If you’re so smart, how?”  
  
Piper went silent, but Annabeth saved her. “You may be right, Piper. If this is connected, I’ll find out from the other end - by searching for Percy. As I said, I’m not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there’s another reason I can’t go. The prophecy says otherwise.”  
  
“It says who we pick,” Jason agreed. “The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul- Hephaestus.”  
  
Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa’s shoulders slumped, like she’d just been given a heavy anvil to carry. “If you have to beware the earth,” she said, “you should avoid traveling overland. You’ll need air transport. The flying chariot’s broken, and the pegasi," Nyssa glanced at me, "we’re using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I’m senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest.”  
  
She didn’t sound enthusiastic. Then Leo stood up. He’d been so quiet, I had almost forgotten he was there, which didn't seem like him.

“It’s me,” he said.  
  
His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted.  
  
“No, it’s me. I know it is. I’ve got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!”  
  
Jason studied him for a moment. He glanced at me for my approval, and I shrugged one shoulder upwards in affirmation. Then he smiled. “We started this together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you’re in.”  
  
“Yes!” Leo pumped his fist.  
  
“It’ll be dangerous,” Nyssa warned him. “Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive.”  
  
“Oh.” Suddenly Leo didn’t look so excited. Then he remembered everyone was watching. “I mean... Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let’s do this.”  
  
Annabeth nodded. “Then, Chrissie, Jason, you only need to choose the fourth quest member. The dove-”  
  
“Oh, absolutely!” Drew was on her feet and flashing Jason a smile. “The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours.”

Just as I was about to protest, Piper stepped forward. “No.”

Drew rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off.”  
  
“I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this.”  
  
“Anyone can have a vision,” Drew said. “You were just at the right place at the right time.” She turned to us. “Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things...” She looked at Leo in disdain. “Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot.”  
  
For some reason, everyone started murmuring in agreement.  
  
“Well...” even Annabeth said. “Given the wording of the prophecy-”  
  
“No! I’m supposed to go.” Then everyone started agreeing with _that_ , too.  
  
“Get over it!” Drew snapped at the crowd. “What can Piper do?”  
  
Piper went silent.  
  
“Well,” Drew said smugly, “I guess that settles it.”  
  
Suddenly there was collective gasp. Everyone stared at Piper like she’d just exploded, which had sort of happened; Aphrodite was claiming her. She was wearing a beautiful white sleeveless gown down to her ankles, with a deep V-neck and golden armbands around her biceps and a fancy necklace on her chest. Even her hair and makeup looked like they'd been professionally done.  
  
“What?” she demanded.  
  
She looked above her, but there was no burning symbol like the one that appeared over Leo. Then she looked down and yelped.  
  
“Oh, god,” she finally said. “What’s happened?”  
  
I pointed at Piper’s dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord. She unsheathed Katoptris and stared at her reflection in the polished metal blade.   
  
“Beautiful,” I exclaimed. “Piper, dude, you’re a damn knockout!”  
  
“No!” Drew cried. “Not possible!”  
  
“This isn’t me,” Piper protested. “I- don’t understand.”  
  
Chiron the centaur folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example.  
  
“Hail, Piper McLean,” Chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral. “Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love.”


	5. Chapter 5

**JASON**

That night, I dreamed of wolves.  
  
I stood in a clearing in the middle of a redwood forest. In front of me rose the ruins of a stone mansion. Low gray clouds blended with the ground fog, and cold rain hung in the air. A pack of large gray beasts milled around me, brushing against my legs, snarling and baring their teeth. They gently nudged me toward the ruins.  
  
I had no desire to become the world’s largest dog biscuit, so I decided to do what they wanted.  
  
The ground squelched under my boots as he walked. Stone spires of chimneys, no longer attached to anything, rose up like totem poles. The house must’ve been enormous once, multi-storied with massive log walls and a soaring gabled roof, but now nothing remained but its stone skeleton. I passed under a crumbling doorway and found myself in a kind of courtyard.  
  
Before me was a drained reflecting pool, long and rectangular. I couldn’t tell how deep it was, because the bottom was filled with mist. A dirt path led all the way around, and the house’s uneven walls rose on either side. Wolves paced under the archways of rough red volcanic stone.  
  
At the far end of the pool sat a giant she-wolf, several feet taller than me. Her eyes glowed silver in the fog, and her coat was the same color as the rocks - warm chocolaty red.  
  
“I know this place,” I said.  
  
The wolf regarded me. She didn’t exactly speak, but I could understand her. The movements of her ears and whiskers, the flash of her eyes, the way she curled her lips - all of these were part of her language.  
  
 _Of course,_ the she-wolf said. _You began your journey here as a pup. Now you must find your way back. A new quest, a new start._  
  
“That isn’t fair,” I said. But as soon as I spoke, I knew there was no point complaining to the she-wolf.  
  
Wolves didn’t feel sympathy. They never expected fairness. The wolf said: _Conquer or die. This is always our way._  
  
I wanted to protest that I couldn’t conquer if I didn’t know who I was, or where I was supposed to go. But I knew this wolf. Her name was simply Lupa, the Mother Wolf, the greatest of her kind. Long ago she’d found me in this place, protected me, nurtured me, chosen me, but if I showed weakness, she would tear me to shreds. Rather than being her pup, I would become her dinner. In the wolf pack, weakness was not an option.  
  
“Can you guide me?” I asked.  
  
Lupa made a rumbling noise deep in her throat, and the mist in the pool dissolved.  
  
At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. At opposite ends of the pool, two dark spires had erupted from the cement floor like the drill bits of some massive tunneling machines boring through the surface. I couldn’t tell if the spires were made of rock or petrified vines, but they were formed of thick tendrils that came together in a point at the top. Each spire was about five feet tall, but they weren’t identical. The one closest to me was darker and seemed like a solid mass, its tendrils fused together. As I watched, it pushed a little farther out of the earth and expanded a little wider.

On Lupa’s end of the pool, the second spire’s tendrils were more open, like the bars of a cage. Inside, I could vaguely see a misty figure struggling, shifting within its confines.  
  
“Hera,” I said.  
  
The she-wolf growled in agreement. The other wolves circled the pool, their fur standing up on their backs as they snarled at the spires.  
  
 _The enemy has chosen this place to awaken her most powerful son, the giant king_ , Lupa said. _Our sacred place, where demigods are claimed - the place of death or life. The burned house. The house of the wolf. It is an abomination. You must stop her._  
  
“Her?” I was confused. “You mean, Hera?”  
  
The she-wolf gnashed her teeth impatiently. _Use your senses, pup. I care nothing for Juno, but if she falls, our enemy wakes. And that will be the end for all of us. You know this place. You can find it again. Cleanse our house. Stop this before it is too late._  
  
The dark spire grew slowly larger, like the bulb of some horrible flower. I sensed that if it ever opened, it would release something I did _not_ want to meet.  
  
“Who am I?” I asked the she-wolf. “At least tell me that.”  
  
Wolves don’t have much of a sense of humor, but I could tell the question amused Lupa, as if I were a cub just trying out my claws, practicing to be the alpha male.  
  
 _You are our saving grace, as always_. The she-wolf curled her lip, as if she had just made a clever joke. _Do not fail, son of Jupiter._  
  
I woke to the sound of thunder. Then I remembered where I was. It was always thundering in Cabin One.  
  
Above my cot, the domed ceiling was decorated with a blue-and-white mosaic like a cloudy sky. The cloud tiles shifted across the ceiling, changing from white to black. Thunder rumbled through the room, and gold tiles flashed like veins of lightning.  
  
Except for the cot that the other campers had brought him, the cabin had no regular furniture - no chairs, tables, or dressers. As far as I could tell, it didn’t even have a bathroom. The walls were carved with alcoves, each holding a bronze brazier or a golden eagle statue on a marble pedestal. In the center of the room, a twenty-foot-tall, full-color statue of Zeus in classic Greek robes stood with a shield at his side and a lightning bolt raised, ready to smite somebody.  
  
I studied the statue, looking for anything I had in common with the Lord of the Sky. Black hair? Nope. Grumbly expression? Well, maybe. Beard? No thanks. In his robes and sandals, Zeus looked like a really buff, really angry hippie.  
  
Yeah, Cabin One. A big honor, the other campers had told me. Sure, if you liked sleeping in a cold temple by yourself with Hippie Zeus frowning down at you all night.  
  
I got up and rubbed my neck. My whole body was stiff from bad sleep and summoning lightning. That little trick last night hadn’t been as easy as I had let on. It had almost made me pass out.  
  
Next to the cot, new clothes were laid out for me: jeans, sneakers, and an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. I definitely needed a change of clothes, but looking down at my tattered purple shirt, I was reluctant to change. It felt wrong somehow, putting on the camp shirt. I still couldn’t believe I belonged here, despite everything they’d told me.  
  
I thought about my dream, hoping more memories would come back to me about Lupa, or that ruined house in the redwoods. I knew I’d been there before. The wolf was real. But my head ached when I tried to remember. The marks on my forearm seemed to burn.  
  
If I could find those ruins, I could find my past. Whatever was growing inside that rock spire, I had to stop it.  
  
I looked at Hippie Zeus. “You’re welcome to help.”  
  
The statue said nothing.  
  
“Thanks, Pops,” I muttered.  
  
I changed clothes and checked my reflection in Zeus’s shield. My face looked watery and strange in the metal, like I was dissolving in a pool of gold. I definitely didn’t look as good as Piper had last night after she’d suddenly been transformed.  
  
I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that. She really didn’t look like herself, not comfortable with the attention. Chrissie had taken some of the tension off by exclaiming how great she looked, but Drew's hysterics definitely hadn't helped.  
  
I had felt bad for her. Maybe that was crazy, considering she’d just been claimed by a goddess and turned into the most gorgeous girl at camp. Everybody had started fawning over her, telling her how amazing she was and how obviously she should be the one who went on the quest - but that attention had nothing to do with who she was. New dress, new makeup, glowing pink aura, and _boom_ : suddenly people liked her. I felt like I understood that.  
  
Last night when I’d called down lightning, the other campers’ reactions had seemed familiar to me. I was pretty sure I’d been dealing with that for a long time - people looking at me in awe just because I was the son of Zeus, treating me special, but it didn’t have anything to do with me. Nobody cared about me, just my big scary daddy standing behind me with the doomsday bolt, as if to say, _Respect this kid or eat voltage!_

After the campfire, when people started heading back to their cabins, Chrissie and I had gone up to Piper and formally asked her to come with us on the quest.  
  
She’d still been in a state of shock, but she nodded, rubbing her arms, which must’ve been cold in that sleeveless dress.  
  
“Aphrodite took my snowboarding jacket,” she muttered. “Mugged by my own mom.”  
  
In the first row of the amphitheater, I found a blanket and gave it to her to wrap it around her shoulders.

“We’ll get you a new jacket,” Chrissie promised. "You can have one of mine in the meantime."  
  
She managed a smile. Chrissie, despite everything going on for her, slung her arm around both of our shoulders and started leading us to our cabins for the night, telling some story about the Lotus Eaters, who she'd encountered in their Hotel/Casino on her first quest.  
  
I was glad Chrissie was going with us on the quest. I had tried to act brave at the campfire, but it was just that - an act. The idea of going up against an evil force powerful enough to kidnap Hera scared me witless, especially since I didn’t even know my own past. I’d need help, and it felt right: Chrissie should be with me in this.

Things were already complicated enough, though, with my fake Mist-relationship with Piper, and Chrissie's missing twin. Nobody needed this right now.

I slipped on my new shoes, ready to get out of that cold, empty cabin. Then I spotted something I hadn’t noticed the night before. A brazier had been moved out of one of the alcoves to create a sleeping niche, with a bedroll, a backpack, even some pictures taped to the wall.

I walked over. Whoever had slept there, it had been a long time ago. The bedroll smelled musty. The backpack was covered with a thin film of dust. Some of the photos once taped to the wall had lost their stickiness and fallen to the floor.  
  
One picture showed Annabeth - much younger, maybe eight, but I could tell it was her: same blond hair and gray eyes, same distracted look like she was thinking a million things at once. She stood next to a sandy-haired guy about fourteen or fifteen, with a mischievous smile and ragged leather armor over a T-shirt. He was pointing to an alley behind them, like he was telling the photographer, _Let’s go meet things in a dark alley and kill them_! A second photo showed Annabeth and the same guy sitting at a campfire, laughing hysterically.  
  
Finally Jason picked up one of the photos that had fallen. It was a strip of pictures like you’d take in a do-it-yourself photo booth: Annabeth and the sandy-haired guy, but with another girl between them. She was maybe fifteen, with black hair - choppy like Piper’s - a black leather jacket, and silver jewelry, so she looked kind of goth; but she was caught mid-laugh, and it was clear she was with her two best friends.  
  
“That’s Thalia,” someone said.  
  
I turned.  
  
Annabeth was peering over my shoulder with Chrissie on her side. Annabeth's expression was sad, like the picture bought back hard memories. “She’s the other child of Zeus who lived here - but not for long. Sorry, we should’ve knocked.”  
  
“It’s fine,” I said. “Not like I think of this place as home.”  
  
Annabeth was dressed for travel, with a winter coat over her camp clothes, her knife at her belt, and a backpack across her shoulder.  
  
I said, “Don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind about coming with us?”  
  
She shook her head. “You got a good team already. I’m off to look for Percy.”  
  
I was a little disappointed, and it must've showed on my face.  
  
“Hey, you’ll do fine,” Chrissie promised. “Something tells me this isn’t your first quest.”  
  
I had a vague suspicion she was right, but that didn’t make me feel any better. Everyone seemed to think I was so brave and confident, but they didn’t see how lost I really felt. How could they trust me when I didn’t even know who he was?  
  
I looked at the pictures of Annabeth smiling. I wondered how long it had been since she’d smiled. She must really like this Percy guy to search for him so hard, and that made me a little envious. Was anyone searching for me right now? What if somebody cared for me that much and was going out of their mind with worry, and I couldn’t even remember my old life?  
  
“You know who I am,” I guessed. “Don’t you?”  
  
Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. She looked for a chair to sit on, but of course there weren’t any. “Honestly, Jason... I’m not sure. My best guess, you’re a loner. It happens sometimes. For one reason or another, the camp never found you, but you survived anyway by constantly moving around. Trained yourself to fight. Handled the monsters on your own. You beat the odds.”  
  
“The first thing Chiron said to me,” I remembered, “was _you should be dead_.”  
  
“That could be why,” Annabeth said. “Most demigods would never make it on their own. And a child of Zeus - I mean, it doesn’t get any more dangerous than that. The chances of your reaching age fifteen without finding Camp Half-Blood or dying - microscopic. But like I said, it does happen. Thalia ran away when she was young. She survived on her own for years. Even took care of me for a while. So maybe you were a loner too.”  
  
I held out my arm. “And these marks?”  
  
The girls glanced at the tattoos. Clearly, they bothered them. “Well, the eagle is the symbol of Zeus, so that makes sense. The twelve lines - maybe they stand for years, if you’d been making them since you were three years old. _SPQR_ \- that’s the motto of the old Roman Empire: _Senatus Populusque Romanus_ , the Senate and the People of Rome. Though why you would burn that on your own arm, I don’t know. Unless you had a really harsh Latin teacher...”  
  
I was pretty sure that wasn’t the reason. It also didn’t seem possible I’d been on my own my whole life. But what else made sense? Annabeth had been pretty clear - Camp Half-Blood was the only safe place in the world for demigods.  
  
“I, um... had a weird dream last night,” I said. It seemed like a stupid thing to confide, but neither of them looked surprised.

“Happens all the time to demigods,” Chrissie said. “What did you see?”  
  
I told them about the wolves and the ruined house and the two rock spires. As I talked, Annabeth started pacing, looking more and more agitated.  
  
“You don’t remember where this house is?” she asked.  
  
I shook my head. “But I’m sure I’ve been there before.”  
  
“Redwoods,” she mused. “Could be northern California. And the she-wolf... I’ve studied goddesses, spirits, and monsters my whole life. I’ve never heard of Lupa.”  
  
“She said the enemy was a ‘her.’ I thought maybe it was Hera, but-”  
  
“I wouldn’t trust Hera, but I don’t think she’s the enemy. And that thing rising out of the earth-” Annabeth’s expression darkened. “You’ve got to stop it.”  
  
“You know what it is, don’t you?” I asked. “Or at least, you’ve got a guess. I saw your face last night at the campfire. You looked at Chiron like it was suddenly dawning on you, but you didn’t want to scare us.”  
  
Annabeth hesitated. “Jason, the thing about prophecies... the more you know, the more you try to change them, and that can be disastrous. Chiron believes it’s better that you find your own path, find out things in your own time. If he’d told us everything he knew before our first quest with Percy... I’ve got to admit, I’m not sure we would’ve been able to go through with it. For your quest, it’s even more important.”  
  
“That bad, huh?”  
  
“Not if you succeed. At least... I hope not.”  
  
“But I don’t even know where to start. Where am I supposed to go?”  
  
“We follow the monsters,” Chrissie suggested. "That usually works pretty okay."  
  
I thought about that. The storm spirit who’d attacked me at the Grand Canyon had said he was being recalled to his boss. If I could track the storm spirits, I might be able to find the person controlling them. And maybe that would lead him to Hera’s prison.  
  
“Okay,” I said. “How do I find storm winds?”  
  
“Personally, I’d ask a wind god,” Annabeth said. “Aeolus is the master of all the winds, but he’s a little... unpredictable. No one finds him unless he wants to be found. I’d try one of the four seasonal wind gods that work for Aeolus. The nearest one, the one who has the most dealings with heroes, is Boreas, the North Wind.”  
  
“So if I looked him up on Google maps-”  
  
“Oh, he’s not hard to find,” Annabeth promised. “He settled in North America like all the other gods. So of course he picked the oldest northern settlement, about as far north as you can go.”  
  
“Maine?” I guessed.  
  
“Farther.”  
  
I tried to envision a map. What was farther north than Maine? The oldest northern settlement...  
  
“Canada,” I decided. “Quebec.”  
  
Annabeth smiled. “I hope you speak French better than Chrissie does.”  
  
I actually felt a spark of excitement. Quebec - at least now we had a goal. Find the North Wind, track down the storm spirits, find out who they worked for and where that ruined house was. Free Hera. All in four days. Cake.  
  
“Thanks, Annabeth.” I looked at the photo booth pictures still in my hand. “So, um... you said it was dangerous being a child of Zeus. What ever happened to Thalia?”  
  
“Oh, she’s fine,” Annabeth said. “She became a Hunter of Artemis - one of the handmaidens of the goddess. They roam around the country killing monsters. We don’t see them at camp very often.”  
  
I glanced over at the huge statue of Zeus. I understood why Thalia had slept in this alcove. It was the only place in the cabin not in Hippie Zeus’s line of sight. And even that hadn’t been enough. She’d chosen to follow Artemis and be part of a group rather than stay in this cold drafty temple alone with her twenty-foot-tall dad - my dad - glowering down at her. _Eat voltage!_ I didn’t have any trouble understanding Thalia’s feelings. I wondered if there was a Hunters group for guys.  
  
“Who’s the other kid in the photo?” I asked. “The sandy-haired guy.”  
  
Annabeth’s expression tightened and Chrissie took her hand. Apparently it was a touchy subject.  
  
“That’s Luke,” she finally said. “He’s dead now.”  
  
I decided it was best not to ask more, but the way Annabeth said Luke’s name, I wondered if maybe Percy Jackson wasn’t the only boy Annabeth had ever liked.  
  
I focused again on Thalia’s face. I kept thinking this photo of her was important. I was missing something.  
  
I felt a strange sense of connection to this other child of Zeus - someone who might understand his confusion, maybe even answer some questions. But another voice inside him, an insistent whisper, said: _Dangerous. Stay away._  
  
“How old is she now?” I asked.

“Hard to say. She was a tree for a while. Now she’s immortal.”  
  
“What?”  
  
My expression must’ve been pretty good, because Annabeth laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s not something all children of Zeus go through. It’s a long story, but... well, she was out of commission for a long time. If she’d aged regularly, she’d be in her twenties now, but she still looks the same as in that picture, like she’s about... well, about your age. Fifteen or sixteen?”  
  
Something the she-wolf had said in his dream nagged at me. I found myself asking, “What’s her last name?”  
  
Annabeth looked uneasy. “She didn’t use a last name, really. If she had to, she’d use her mom’s, but they didn’t get along. Thalia ran away when she was pretty young.”  
  
I waited.  
  
“Grace," Annabeth said. “Thalia Grace.”  
  
My fingers went numb. The picture fluttered to the floor.  
  
“You okay?” Chrissie asked.  
  
A shred of memory had ignited - maybe a tiny piece that Hera had forgotten to steal. Or maybe she’d left it there on purpose - just enough for me to remember that name, and know that digging up my past was terribly, terribly dangerous.  
  
 _You should be dead,_ Chiron had said. It wasn’t a comment about me beating the odds as a loner. Chiron knew something specific - something about my family.  
  
The she-wolf ’s words in my dream finally made sense to me, her clever joke at my expense. I could imagine Lupa growling a wolfish laugh.  
  
“What is it?” Chrissie pressed, touching my arm.  
  
I couldn’t keep this to myself. It would kill me, and I had to get Annabeth and Chrissie's help. If they knew Thalia, maybe they could advise me.  
  
“You have to swear not to tell anyone else,” I said.  
  
“Jason-”  
  
“Swear it,” I urged. “Until I figure out what’s going on, what this all means-” I rubbed the burned tattoos on my forearm. “You have to keep a secret.”  
  
Annabeth hesitated, but her curiosity won out. She and Chrissie shared a look, and they both nodded.

“All right. Until you tell me it’s okay, I won’t share what you say with anyone else. I swear on the River Styx.”

"Ditto," Chrissie said. I almost laughed at her casualness.  
  
Thunder rumbled, even louder than usual for the cabin. _You are our saving Grace,_ the wolf had snarled. I picked up the photo from the floor. “My last name is Grace,” I said. “This is my sister.” Annabeth turned pale. I could see her wrestling with dismay, disbelief, anger. She thought I was lying. My claim was impossible. And part of me felt the same way, but as soon as I spoke the words, I knew they were true.  
  
Then the doors of the cabin burst open. Half a dozen campers spilled in, led by the bald guy from Iris, Butch. “Hurry!” he said, and I couldn’t tell if his expression was excitement or fear. “The dragon is back.”


	6. Chapter 6

**CHRISSIE**

Annabeth, Jason and I quickly stormed to the edge of the forest. Half the camp was standing around the dragon in a mixture of pajamas and armor. As we neared, the dragon reared its head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Campers scrambled away and hefted their weapons, but a figure slid calmly off the dragon’s back - _was that Leo?!_  
  
“People of Earth, I come in peace!” We heard him shouting from a distance. ""Festus is just saying hello!”  
  
“That thing is dangerous!” Clarisse shouted, brandishing her spear. “Kill it now!”  
  
“Stand down!” Jason ordered when we got close enough. We pushed through the crowd, quickly joined by Nyssa.  
  
Jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. “Leo, what have you done?”  
  
“Found a ride!” Leo beamed. “You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!”

“It- has wings,” Nyssa stammered. Her jaw looked like it might drop off her face.  
  
“Yeah!” Leo said. “I found them and reattached them.”  
  
“But it never had wings. Where did you find them?”  
  
Leo hesitated, and I could tell he was hiding something.  
  
“In... the woods,” he said. “Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire.”  
  
“Mostly?” I asked, putting a hand on my hip.  
  
The dragon’s head twitched. It tilted to one side and a stream of black liquid - maybe oil, hopefully just oil - poured out of its ear, all over Leo.  
  
“Just a few kinks to work out,” Leo said.  
  
“But how did you survive...?” Nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe. “I mean, the fire breath...”  
  
“I’m quick,” Leo said. “And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?”  
  
Jason scratched his head. “You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, ‘festus’ means ‘happy’? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?”  
  
The dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings.  
  
“That’s a yes, bro!” Leo said. “Now, um, I’d really suggest we get going, guys. I already picked up some supplies in the- um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous.”  
  
Jason frowned. “But we haven’t planned anything yet. We can’t just-”

"Yes we can," I countered.  
  
“Go,” Annabeth said. Her expression was sad and wistful, probably reminiscing in the memories of better times, just like I was. “Jason, you’ve only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!”  
  
Jason nodded. Leo climbed on, then I did the same, holding out my hand to Jason. He smiled at Piper. “You ready, partner?”  
  
Piper looked at the bronze dragon wings shining against the sky, and those talons that could’ve shredded her to pieces.  
  
“You bet,” she said.

* * * * *

Flying on the dragon was the most amazing experience ever, I thought.  
  
Up high, the air was freezing cold; but the dragon’s metal hide generated so much heat, it was like we were flying in a protective bubble. Talk about seat warmers! And the grooves in the dragon’s back were designed like high-tech saddles, so they weren’t uncomfortable at all. Leo had showed us how to hook our feet in the chinks of the armor, like in stirrups, and use the leather safety harnesses cleverly concealed under the exterior plating. We sat single file: Leo in front, then me, then Jason, and then Piper. I, for some reason, was very aware of Jason right behind me, but I shrugged it off; if this quest could bring my brother back, I couldn't afford to get distracted.  
  
Leo used the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he’d been doing it all his life. The metal wings worked perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island was just a hazy line behind us. We shot over Connecticut and climbed into the gray winter clouds.  
  
Leo grinned back at us. “Cool, right?”  
  
“What if we get spotted?” Piper asked.  
  
“The Mist,” Jason said. “It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they’ll probably mistake us for a small plane or something.”  
  
“You sure about that?”  
  
“No,” he admitted.

"I am, though," I said.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that he was still clutching that photo of Thalia in his hand, so I gave him a small smile and put my hand on his leg. He blushed and put the photo in his pocket. “We’re making good time. Probably get there by tonight.”  
  
“Where are we heading?” Piper asked  
  
“To find the god of the North Wind,” Jason said. “And chase some storm spirits.”  
  
 _Okay, drama queen,_ I thought. We flew for silence for a couple of minutes.  
  
“Shut up, me,” Leo said aloud.  
  
“What?” Piper asked.  
  
“Nothing,” he said. “Long night. I think I’m hallucinating. It’s cool.”

That did not comfort me in the _slightest_.  
  
“Just joking.” Leo said. “So what’s the plan, bro? You said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?”  
  
As we flew over New England, Jason laid out the game plan: First, find some guy named Boreas and grill him for information-  
  
“His name is Boreas?” Leo had to ask. “What is he, the God of Boring?”  
  
Second, Jason continued, we had to find those venti that had attacked them at the Grand Canyon-  
  
“Can we just call them storm spirits?” Leo asked. “Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks.”  
  
And third, Jason finished, we had to find out who the storm spirits worked for, so we could find Hera and free her.  
  
“So you want to look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose,” Leo said. “The guy who threw me off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds.”  
  
“That’s about it,” Jason said. “Well... there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she’s friendly. She probably won’t eat us, unless we show weakness.”  
  
Jason told us about his dream - the big nasty mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool.  
  
“Uh-huh,” Leo said. “But you don’t know where this place is.”  
  
“Nope,” Jason admitted.  
  
“There’s also giants,” Piper added. “The prophecy said the giants’ revenge.”  
  
“Hold on,” Leo said. “Giants - like more than one? Why can’t it be just one giant who wants revenge?”  
  
“I don’t think so,” Piper said. “I remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of giants.”  
  
“Great,” Leo muttered. “Of course, with our luck, it’s an army. So you know anything else about these giants? Didn’t you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?”  
  
“Your dad’s an actor?” Jason asked.  
  
Leo laughed. “I keep forgetting about your amnesia. Heh. Forgetting about amnesia. That’s funny. But yeah, her dad’s Tristan McLean.”

"Bet Drew _loved_ that," I muttered to myself.  
  
“Uh- Sorry, what was he in?”  
  
“It doesn’t matter,” Piper said quickly. I decided to take over.

“There were lots of giants in Greek mythology. If I’m thinking of the right ones, they were bad news. Huge, almost impossible to kill. They could throw mountains and stuff. I think they were related to the Titans - Annabeth would know for sure. They rose from the earth after Kronos lost the war - I mean the first Titan war, thousands of years ago - and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we’re talking about the same giants-”  
  
“Chiron said it was happening again,” Jason remembered. “The last chapter. That’s what he meant. No wonder he didn’t want us to know all the details.”  
  
Leo whistled. “So... giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn’t the time to bring up my psycho babysitter.”  
  
“Is that another joke?” I asked.  
  
Leo told us about Tía Callida, who was really Hera, and how she’d appeared to him at camp.

"Gods appear to people sometimes, yeah. Usually in dreams or during quests, but they make exceptions for important people." Leo didn't seem reassured by my words, but I couldn't be sure - I couldn't see his face.  
  
He then told us about the strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep, and seemed to know the future.  
  
I estimated the whole state of Massachusetts passed below us before one of us spoke.  
  
“That’s... disturbing,” Piper said.

“’Bout sums it up,” Leo agreed. “Thing is, everybody says don’t trust Hera."

"Yeah, she hates demigods. And the prophecy said we’d cause death if we unleash her rage," I added

"Exactly. So I’m wondering... why are we doing this?”  
  
“She chose us,” Jason said. “All four of us. We’re the first of the eight who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger. Besides, helping Hera is the only way I can get back my memory. And that dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on Hera’s energy. If that thing unleashes a king of the giants by destroying Hera-”  
  
“Not a good trade-off,” Piper agreed. “At least Hera is on our side - mostly. Losing her would throw the gods into chaos. She’s the main one who keeps peace in the family. And a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the Titan War.”

"Which was pretty destructive in and of its own." I shuddered a little as I spoke. During the war, I took three arrows to my abdomen and a blade in my leg at various points, and Percy almost got himself killed to make his body indestructible so he could go one-on-one with Kronos.  
  
Jason nodded. “Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic, and all - something that could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that day. And this mistress who’s controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the demigods-”  
  
“Might be that weird sleeping lady,” Leo finished. “Dirt Woman fully awake? Not something I want to see.”  
  
“But who is she?” Jason asked. “And what does she have to do with giants?”  
  
Good questions, but none of them had answers, and I didn't want to share the idea Annabeth and I had back at camp - if it was truly her, we could be in a lot more trouble than we could handle. We flew in silence for a while, and I contemplated my talk with Annabeth back at camp.

You see, if we were up against who I thought we were, my most powerful abilities would probably be useless.

Percy could control water, and one time even created it from petrified seashells. We could both talk to horses and water spirits, but his connection to the Naiads and Nereids was more powerful.

Me, on the other hand? I got the natural disasters part of Poseidon's capabilities. I had control over stuff like accidental wildfires and volcanic activity, I could create and control most types of storms and hurricanes, I could cause and hold up heat waves, droughts and polar vortexes, and I assumed I could still use those types of powers, though they drain my energy pretty quickly. My best trick had always been earthquakes and the like. I could crack the earth pretty deep - I once created an entrance to the labyrinth after Rachel hit Kronos in the eye with a hairbrush - and shake a mountain without breaking a sweat.

If our enemy holds more power than I do over the earth, how was I supposed to be useful?

Finally, I snapped out of my depressing train of thought and decided Leo should get some rest.

“Why don’t you go to sleep?” I said in his ear. “You were up all night.”  
  
Leo hesitated. “You won’t let me fall off?”  
  
I patted his shoulder. “Valdez, we need you for this quest. Letting you fall off would be catastrophically dumb.”  
  
“Right,” he muttered. He leaned forward against the warm bronze of the dragon’s neck, and closed his eyes. When I shook him awake, the daylight was fading.


	7. Chapter 7

**LEO**

“We’re here,” Chrissie said.  
  
I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Below us, a city sat on a cliff overlooking a river. The plains around it were dusted with snow, but the city itself glowed warmly in the winter sunset. Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a medieval town, way older than any place I had seen before. In the center was an actual castle - at least I assumed it was a castle - with massive red brick walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.  
  
“Tell me that’s Quebec and not Santa’s workshop,” I said.

"What, feeling homesick?" Chrissie joked, and I turned around to fist-bump her. She complied, grinning.  
  
“It's Quebec City,” Piper finally confirmed, shooting us a look. “One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so?”  
  
I raised an eyebrow. “Your dad do a movie about that too?”  
  
She made a face at me, which I was used to, but it didn’t quite work with her new glamorous makeup. “I read sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me, doesn’t mean I have to be an airhead.”  
  
“Feisty!” I said. “So you know so much, what’s that castle?”  
  
“A hotel, I think.”  
  
I laughed. “No way.”  
  
But as we got closer, I saw she was right. The grand entrance was bustling with doormen, valets, and porters taking bags. Sleek black luxury cars idled in the drive. People in elegant suits and winter cloaks hurried to get out of the cold.  
  
“The North Wind is staying in a hotel?” I said. “That can’t be-”  
  
“Heads up, guys,” Jason interrupted. “We got company!”  
  
I looked below and saw what Jason meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two winged figures - angry angels, with nasty-looking swords.  
  
Festus didn’t like the angel guys. He swooped to a halt in midair, wings beating and talons bared, and made a rumbling sound in his throat that I recognized. He was getting ready to blow fire.  
  
“Steady, boy,” I muttered. Something told me the angels would not take kindly to getting torched.  
  
“I don’t like this,” Jason said. “They look like storm spirits.”

"No, they're not," Chrissie said. She didn't sound very happy.  
  
At first I thought Jason was right, but as the angels got closer, I could see they were much more solid than venti. They looked like regular teenagers except for their icy white hair and feathery purple wings. Their bronze swords were jagged, like icicles. Their faces looked similar enough that they might’ve been brothers, but they definitely weren’t twins.  
  
One was the size of an ox, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, and black leather cleats. The guy clearly had been in too many fights, because both his eyes were black, and when he bared his teeth, several of them were missing.  
  
The other guy looked like he’d just stepped off one of my mom’s 1980s rock album covers - Journey, maybe, or Hall & Oates, or something even lamer. His ice-white hair was long and feathered into a mullet. He wore pointy-toed leather shoes, designer pants that were way too tight, and a god-awful silk shirt with the top three buttons open. Maybe he thought he looked like a groovy love god, but the guy couldn’t have weighed more than ninety pounds, and he had a bad case of acne.

The angels pulled up in front of the dragon and hovered there, swords at the ready.  
  
The hockey ox grunted. “No clearance.”  
  
“’Scuse me?” I said.  
  
“You have no flight plan on file,” explained the groovy love god. On top of his other problems, he had a French accent so bad I was sure it was fake. “This is restricted airspace.”  
  
“Destroy them?” The ox showed off his gap-toothed grin.  
  
The dragon began to hiss steam, ready to defend us. Jason summoned his golden sword, but I cried, “Hold on! Let’s have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honor of destroying me?”  
  
“I am Cal!” the ox grunted. He looked very proud of himself, like he’d taken a long time to memorize that sentence.  
  
“That’s short for Calais,” the love god said. “Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables-”  
  
“Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!” Cal offered.  
  
“-which includes his own name,” the love god finished.  
  
“I am Cal,” Cal repeated. “And this is Zethes! My brother!”  
  
“Wow,” I said. “That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go.”  
  
Cal grunted, obviously pleased with himself.  
  
“Stupid buffoon,” his brother grumbled. “They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes. And the lady there-” He winked at Piper, but the wink was more like a facial seizure. “She can call me anything she likes. Perhaps she would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?”  
  
Piper made a sound like gagging on a cough drop. “That’s... a truly horrifying offer.”  
  
“It is no problem.” Zethes wiggled his eyebrows. “We are a very romantic people, we Boreads.”

"Sure you are," Chrissie said, and they seemed to recognize her.  
  
“Boreads?” Jason cut in before they could take offense. “Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?”  
  
“Ah, so you’ve heard of us!” Zethes looked pleased. “We are our father’s gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples.”  
  
He pointed below, and I saw that the mortals were starting to take notice. Several were pointing up - not with alarm, yet - more with confusion and annoyance, like the dragon was a traffic helicopter flying too low.  
  
“Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing,” Zethes said, brushing his hair out of his acne-covered face, “we will have to destroy you painfully.”  
  
“Destroy!” Cal agreed, with a little more enthusiasm than Leo thought necessary.  
  
“Wait!” Piper said. “This is an emergency landing.”  
  
“Awww!” Cal looked so disappointed, I almost felt sorry for him.  
  
Zethes studied Piper, which of course he’d already been doing. “How does the pretty girl decide this is an emergency, then?”  
  
“We have to see Boreas. It’s totally urgent! Please?” She forced a smile, which I figured must’ve been killing her; but she still had that blessing of Aphrodite thing going on, and she looked great. Something about her voice, too - I found myself believing every word. Jason was nodding, looking absolutely convinced.  
  
Zethes picked at his silk shirt, probably making sure it was still open wide enough. “Well... I hate to disappoint a lovely lady, but you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you, especially, her-”  
  
“But our dragon is malfunctioning!” Piper added. “It could crash any minute!”  
  
Festus shuddered helpfully, then turned his head and spilled gunk out of his ear, splattering a black Mercedes in the parking lot below.  
  
“No destroy?” Cal whimpered.  
  
Zethes pondered the problem. Then he gave Piper another spasmodic wink. “Well, you are pretty. I mean, you’re right. A malfunctioning dragon - this could be an emergency.”  
  
“Destroy them later?” Cal offered, which was probably as close to friendly as he ever got.  
  
“It will take some explaining,” Zethes decided. “Father has not been kind to visitors lately, and our sister will most certainly not be happy. But, yes. Come, faulty dragon people. Follow us.”  
  
The Boreads sheathed their swords and pulled smaller weapons from their belts - or at least I thought they were weapons. Then the Boreads switched them on, and I realized they were flashlights with orange cones, like the ones traffic controller guys use on a runway. Cal and Zethes turned and swooped toward the hotel’s tower.  
  
I turned to my friends. “I love these guys. Follow them?”  
  
None of them looked eager.  
  
“I guess,” Jason decided. “We’re here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn’t been kind to visitors.”

“Pfft, he just hasn’t met us.” I whistled. “Festus, after those flashlights!”

As they got closer, I worried we’d crash into the tower. The Boreads made right for the green gabled peak and didn’t slow down. Then a section of the slanted roof slid open, revealing an entrance easily wide enough for Festus. The top and bottom were lined with icicles like jagged teeth.  
  
“This cannot be good,” Jason muttered, but I spurred the dragon downward, and we swooped in after the Boreads.  
  
We landed in what must have been the penthouse suite; but the place had been hit by a flash freeze. The entry hall had vaulted ceilings forty feet high, huge draped windows, and lush oriental carpets. A staircase at the back of the room led up to another equally massive hall, and more corridors branched off to the left and right. But the ice made the room’s beauty a little frightening. When I slid off the dragon, the carpet crunched under my feet. A fine layer of frost covered the furniture. The curtains didn’t budge because they were frozen solid, and the ice-coated windows let in weird watery light from the sunset. Even the ceiling was furry with icicles. As for the stairs, I was sure I’d slip and break my neck if I tried to climb them.  
  
“Guys,” I said, “fix the thermostat in here, and I would totally move in.”  
  
“Not me.” Jason looked uneasily at the staircase. “Something feels wrong. Something up there...”  
  
Festus shuddered and snorted flames. Frost started to form on his scales.  
  
“No, no, no.” Zethes marched over, though how he could walk in those pointy leather shoes, I had no idea. “The dragon must be deactivated. We can’t have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair.”  
  
Festus growled and spun his drill-bit teeth.  
  
“’S’okay, boy.” I turned to Zethes. “The dragon’s a little touchy about the whole deactivation concept. But I’ve got a better solution.”  
  
“Destroy?” Cal suggested.  
  
“No, man. You gotta stop with the destroy talk. Just wait.”  
  
“Leo,” Piper said nervously, “what are you-”  
  
“Watch and learn, beauty queen. When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of buttons. Some, you do not want to know what they do. But others... Ah, here we go.”  
  
I hooked my fingers behind the dragon’s left foreleg. I pulled a switch, and the dragon shuddered from head to toe. Everyone backed away as Festus folded like origami. His bronze plating stacked together. His neck and tail contracted into his body. His wings collapsed and his trunk compacted until he was a rectangular metal wedge the size of a suitcase.  
  
I tried to lift it, but the thing weighed about six billion pounds. “Um... yeah. Hold on. I think- aha.”  
  
I pushed another button. A handle flipped up on the top, and wheels clicked out on the bottom.  
  
“Ta-da!” I announced. “The world’s heaviest carry-on bag!”  
  
“That’s impossible,” Jason said. “Something that big couldn’t-”  
  
“Stop!” Zethes ordered. He and Cal both drew their swords and glared at me.  
  
I raised my hands. “Okay... what’d I do? Stay calm, guys. If it bothers you that much, I don’t have to take the dragon as carry-on-”  
  
“Who are you?” Zethes shoved the point of his sword against my chest. “A child of the South Wind, spying on us?”  
  
“What? No!” I said. “Son of Hephaestus. Friendly blacksmith, no harm to anyone!”  
  
Cal growled. He put his face up to mine, and he definitely wasn’t any prettier at point-blank, with his bruised eyes and bashed-in mouth. “Smell fire,” he said. “Fire is bad.”  
  
“Oh.” My heart raced. “Yeah, well... my clothes are kind of singed, and I’ve been working with oil, and-”  
  
“No!” Zethes pushed me back at sword point. “We can smell fire, demigod. We assumed it was from the creaky dragon, but now the dragon is a suitcase. And I still smell fire... on you.”  
  
If it hadn’t been like three degrees in the penthouse, I would’ve started sweating. “Hey... look... I don’t know-” I glanced at my friends desperately. “Guys, a little help?”  
  
Jason already had his gold coin in his hand. He stepped forward, his eyes on Zethes. “Look, there’s been a mistake. Leo isn’t a fire guy. Tell them, Leo. Tell them you’re not a fire guy.”  
  
“Um...” Chrissie looked at me curiously.  
  
“Zethes?” Piper tried her dazzling smile again, though she looked a little too nervous and cold to pull it off. “We’re all friends here. Put down your swords and let’s talk.”  
  
“The girl is pretty,” Zethes admitted, “and of course she cannot help being attracted to my amazingness; but sadly, I cannot romance her at this time.” He poked his sword point farther into my chest, and I could feel the frost spreading across my shirt, turning my skin numb.  
  
I wished I could reactivate Festus. I needed some backup. But it would’ve taken several minutes, even if I could reach the button, with two purple-winged crazy guys in my path.  
  
“Destroy him now?” Cal asked his brother.  
  
Zethes nodded. “Sadly, I think-”  
  
“No,” Jason insisted. He sounded calm enough, but I figured he was about two seconds away from flipping that coin and going into full gladiator mode. “Leo’s just a son of Hephaestus. He’s no threat. Piper here is a daughter of Aphrodite. Chrissie is the daughter of Poseidon. I’m the son of Zeus. We’re on a peaceful...”  
  
Jason’s voice faltered, because both Boreads had suddenly turned on him.  
  
“What did you say?” Zethes demanded. “You are the son of Zeus?”  
  
“Um... yeah,” Jason said. “That’s a good thing, right? My name is Jason.”  
  
Cal looked so surprised, he almost dropped his sword. “Can’t be Jason,” he said. “Doesn’t look the same.”  
  
Zethes stepped forward and squinted at Jason’s face. “No, he is not our Jason. Our Jason was more stylish. Not as much as me - but stylish. Besides, our Jason died millennia ago.”  
  
“Wait,” Jason said. “Your Jason... you mean the original Jason? The Golden Fleece guy?”

“Of course,” Zethes said. “We were his crewmates aboard his ship, the Argo, in the old times, when we were mortal demigods. Then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so I could look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey.”  
  
“Hockey!” Cal agreed.  
  
“But Jason - our Jason - he died a mortal death,” Zethes said. “You can’t be him.”  
  
“I’m not,” Jason agreed.  
  
“So, destroy?” Cal asked. Clearly, the conversation was giving his two brain cells a serious workout.  
  
“No,” Zethes said regretfully. “If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we’ve been watching for.”  
  
“Watching for?” I asked. “You mean like in a good way: you’ll shower him with fabulous prizes? Or watching for like in a bad way: he’s in trouble?”  
  
A girl’s voice said, “That depends on my father’s will.”  
  
I looked up the staircase. My heart nearly stopped. At the top stood a girl in a white silk dress. Her skin was unnaturally pale, the color of snow, but her hair was a lush mane of black, and her eyes were coffee brown. She focused on me with no expression, no smile, no friendliness. But it didn’t matter. I was in love. She was the most dazzling girl I’d ever seen.  
  
Then she looked at Chrissie, Jason and Piper, and seemed to understand the situation immediately.  
  
“Father will want to see the one called Jason,” the girl said.  
  
“Then it is him?” Zethes asked excitedly.  
  
“We’ll see,” the girl said. “Zethes, bring our guests.”  
  
I grabbed the handle of his bronze dragon suitcase. I wasn’t sure how how I’d lug it up the stairs, but I had to get next to that girl and ask her some important questions - like her e-mail address and phone number.  
  
Before I could take a step, she froze me with a look. Not literally froze, but she might as well have.  
  
“Not you, Leo Valdez,” she said.  
  
In the back of his mind, I wondered how she knew my name; but mostly I was just concentrating on how crushed I felt.  
  
“Why not?” I probably sounded like a whiny kindergartner, but I couldn’t help it.  
  
“You cannot be in the presence of my father,” the girl said. “Fire and ice - it would not be wise.”  
  
“We’re going together,” Jason insisted, putting his hand on my shoulder, “or not at all.”  
  
The girl tilted her head, like she wasn’t used to people refusing her orders. “He will not be harmed, Jason Grace, unless you make trouble. Calais, keep Leo Valdez here. Guard him, but do not kill him.”  
  
Cal pouted. “Just a little?”  
  
“No,” the girl insisted. “And take care of his interesting suitcase, until Father passes judgment.”

"I'll stay with him." Chrissie seemed pretty happy to have an excuse not to join the girl to her father.

"No. As much as we quarrel, Christina Jackson, my father wants you there. We shall have to... _forget_ our history for the time being." I had no idea what the girl was on about, but she made it pretty clear she'd never 'forget' her history or quarrels with Chrissie.  
  
The others looked at me, their expressions asking him a silent question: _How do you want to play this?_  
  
I felt a surge of gratitude. They were ready to fight for me. They wouldn’t leave me alone with the hockey ox. Part of me wanted to go for it, bust out the new tool belt and see what I could do, maybe even summon a fireball or two and warm this place up. But the Boread guys scared me. And that gorgeous girl scared me more, even if I still wanted her number.  
  
“It’s fine, guys,” I said. “No sense causing trouble if we don’t have to. You go ahead.”  
  
“Listen to your friend,” the pale girl said. “Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe. I wish I could say the same for you, son of Zeus. Now come, King Boreas is waiting.”


	8. Chapter 8

**CHRISSIE**

I didn't really want to leave Leo, but with my old acquaintance Khione here, I was starting to think that hanging out with Cal the hockey jock might be the least dangerous option in this place.

As we climbed the icy staircase, Zethes stayed behind us, his blade drawn. The guy might’ve looked like a disco-era reject, but there was nothing funny about his sword. I figured one hit from that thing would probably turn you into a Popsicle.  
  
Then there was the ice princess. Every once in a while she’d turn and give only Jason a smile, but there was no warmth in her expression. She regarded Jason like he was an especially interesting science specimen - one she couldn’t wait to dissect. I clenched my hands every time she did so.  
  
If these were Boreas’s kids, I wasn’t sure we wanted to meet Daddy. Annabeth had told us Boreas was the friendliest of the wind gods. Apparently that meant he didn’t kill heroes quite as fast as the others did.  
  
I worried that we’d led Piper and Leo into a trap. If things went bad, I wasn’t sure I could get the others out alive.

Jason must've been struggling as well, because he took my hand. I looked at him and saw worry in his eyes, so I gently squeezed his hand.

“It’ll be fine,” I promised. “Just a talk, right?”  
  
At the top of the stairs, the ice princess looked back and noticed us holding hands. Her smile faded. Suddenly my hand in Jason's turned ice cold - burning cold. We let go, and my fingers were smoking with frost. So were his. I glared so hard at her I accidentally cracked the ice around her feet. She glared back just has hard, but with something else in her eyes that I couldn't figure out.  
  
“Warmth is not a good idea here,” she advised, “especially when I am your best chance of staying alive. Please, this way.”  
  
Piper gave us a nervous frown like, _What was that about?_  
  
We didn’t have an answer. Zethes poked Jason in the back with his icicle sword, and so we followed the princess down a massive hallway decked in frosty tapestries.  
  
Freezing winds blew back and forth, and I shivered hard. Thankfully, I still had Percy's old jacket wrapped around me, so I hugged it tighter to my body. It brought me a little warmth, but barely any comfort; my twin brother was off someplace gods-know-where, and here I was, visiting a wind gos instead of helping Annabeth look for him.  
  
“Hey.” Jason touched my arm. “You still with me?”  
  
“Yeah... yeah, sorry.”  
  
I was grateful for Jason. No matter how much he'd seemed to be lost in his own thoughts a moment before, he was concerned about me. I took a quick moment to actually study him; his build was similar to most half-bloods - well-trained, but still youthful. His brows seemed to permanently be just a little furrowed - the right one a tiny bit more so than the left. And the scar on his lip stretched whenever he smiled.

 _Stop it_ , I told myself. This wasn't fair to Piper, who'd had two months' worth of Mist-induced relationship with him. I didn't want to hurt her feelings. Besides, finding my brother was my number one priority right now. I couldn't afford to get distracted.  
  
At the end of the hallway we found ourselves in front of a set of oaken doors carved with a map of the world. In each corner was a man’s bearded face, blowing wind. I’d seen maps like this before. But in this version, all the wind guys were Winter, blowing ice and snow from every corner of the world.  
  
The princess turned. Her brown eyes glittered, and I felt like she regarded Jason as a Christmas present she was hoping to open.  
  
“This is the throne room,” she said. “Be on your best behavior, Jason Grace. My father can be... chilly. I will translate for you, and try to encourage him to hear you out. I do hope he spares you. We could have such fun.”  
  
Her definition of fun was definitely not the same as mine.  
  
“Um, okay,” Jason managed. “But really, we’re just here for a little talk. We’ll be leaving right afterward.”  
  
She smiled. “I love heroes. So blissfully ignorant.”  
  
Piper rested her hand on her dagger. “Well, how about you enlighten us? You say you’re going to translate for us, and we don’t even know who you are. What’s your name?”  
  
The girl sniffed with distaste. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you don’t recognize me. Even in the ancient times the Greeks did not know me well. Their island homes were too warm, too far from my domain. I am Khione, daughter of Boreas, goddess of snow.”  
  
She stirred the air with her finger, and a miniature blizzard swirled around her - big, fluffy flakes as soft as cotton. I rolled my eyes - _showoff_. I could literally make a snowstorm too, just maybe not as fast as she could.  
  
“Now, come,” Khione said. The oaken doors blew open, and cold blue light spilled out of the room. “Hopefully you will survive your little talk.”  
  
If the entry hall had been cold, the throne room was like a meat locker.  
  
Mist hung in the air. I shivered, and my breath steamed. Along the walls, purple tapestries showed scenes of snowy forests, barren mountains, and glaciers. High above, ribbons of colored light - the aurora borealis - pulsed along the ceiling. A layer of snow covered the floor, so I had to step carefully. All around the room stood life-size ice sculpture warriors - some in Greek armor, some medieval, some in modern camouflage - all frozen in various attack positions, swords raised, guns locked and loaded.  
  
At least I first thought they were sculptures. Then Jason tried to step between two Greek spearmen, and they moved with surprising speed, their joints cracking and spraying ice crystals as they crossed their javelins to block his path.  
  
From the far end of the hall, a man’s voice rang out in a language that sounded like French. The room was so long and misty, I couldn’t see the other end; but whatever the man said, the ice guards uncrossed their javelins.  
  
“It’s fine,” Khione said. “My father has ordered them not to kill you just yet.”  
  
“Super,” Jason said.  
  
Zethes prodded him in the back with his sword. “Keep moving, Jason Junior.”  
  
“Please don’t call me that.”  
  
“My father is not a patient man,” Zethes warned, “and the beautiful Piper, sadly, is losing her magic hairdo very fast. Later, perhaps, I can lend her something from my wide assortment of hair products.”  
  
“Thanks,” Piper grumbled.  
  
We kept walking, and the mist parted to reveal a man on an ice throne. He was sturdily built, dressed in a stylish white suit that seemed woven from snow, with dark purple wings that spread out to either side. His long hair and shaggy beard were encrusted with icicles, so I couldn’t tell if his hair was gray or just white with frost. His arched eyebrows made him look angry, but his eyes twinkled more warmly than his daughter’s - as if he might have a sense of humor buried somewhere under that permafrost. I certainly hoped so.

“Bienvenu,” the king said. “Je suis Boreas le Roi. Et vous?”  
  
Khione the snow goddess was about to speak, but Piper stepped forward and curtsied.  
  
“Votre Majesté,” she said, “ je suis Piper McLean. Elle s'apelle Chrissie, qui est une fille de Poseidon, et c’est Jason, fils de Zeus.”  
  
The king smiled with pleasant surprise. “Vous parlez français? Très bien!”  
  
“Piper, you speak French?” Jason asked. Piper frowned. “No. Why?” “You just spoke French.” Piper blinked. “I did?” The king said something else, and Piper nodded. “Oui, Votre Majesté.”  
  
The king laughed and clapped his hands, obviously delighted. He said a few more sentences then swept his hand toward his daughter as if shooing her away.  
  
Khione looked miffed. “The king says-”  
  
“He says I’m a daughter of Aphrodite,” Piper interrupted, “so naturally I can speak French, which is the language of love. I had no idea. His Majesty says Khione won’t have to translate now.”  
  
Behind them, Zethes snorted, and Khione shot him a murderous look. She bowed stiffly to her father and took a step back.  
  
The king sized us up, and I decided it would be a good idea to bow. Jason followed my example very quickly. “Your Majesty, I’m Jason Grace. Thank you for, um, not killing us. May I ask... why does a Greek god speak French?”  
  
Piper had another exchange with the king.  
  
“He speaks the language of his host country,” Piper translated. “He says all gods do this. Most Greek gods speak English, as they now reside in the United States, but Boreas was never welcomed in their realm. His domain was always far to the north. These days he likes Quebec, so he speaks French.”  
  
The king said something else, and Piper turned pale.  
  
“The king says...” She faltered. “He says-”  
  
“Oh, allow me,” Khione said. “My father says he has orders to kill you. Did I not mention that earlier?”


	9. Chapter 9

**JASON**

I tensed. The king was still smiling amiably, like he’d just delivered great news.  
  
“Kill us?” I said. “Why?”  
  
“Because,” the king said, in heavily accented English, “my lord Aeolus has commanded it.”  
  
Boreas rose. He stepped down from his throne and furled his wings against his back. As he approached, Khione and Zethes bowed. The three of us followed their example.  
  
“I shall deign to speak your language,” Boreas said, “as Piper McLean has honored me in mine. Toujours, I have had a fondness for the children of Aphrodite. As for you, Jason Grace, my master Aeolus would not expect me to kill a son of Lord Zeus... without first hearing you out.”  
  
My gold coin seemed to grow heavy in my pocket. If we were forced to fight, I didn’t like my chances. Two seconds at least to summon my blade. Then we’d be facing a god, two of his children, and an army of freeze-dried warriors.  
  
“Aeolus is the master of the winds, right?” I asked. “Why would he want us dead?”  
  
“You are demigods,” Boreas said, as if this explained everything. “Aeolus’s job is to contain the winds, and demigods have always caused him many headaches. They ask him for favors. They unleash winds and cause chaos. But the final insult was the battle with Typhon last summer...”  
  
Boreas waved his hand, and a sheet of ice like a flat-screen TV appeared in the air. Images of a battle flickered across the surface - a giant wrapped in storm clouds, wading across a river toward the Manhattan skyline. Tiny, glowing figures - the gods, I guessed - swarmed around him like angry wasps, pounding the monster with lightning and fire. Finally the river erupted in a massive whirlpool, and the smoky form sank beneath the waves and disappeared. Chrissie smiled proudly.

“The storm giant, Typhon,” Boreas explained. “The first time the gods defeated him, eons ago, he did not die quietly. His death released a host of storm spirits - wild winds that answered to no one. It was Aeolus’s job to track them all down and imprison them in his fortress. The other gods - they did not help. They did not even apologize for the inconvenience. It took Aeolus centuries to track down all the storm spirits, and naturally this irritated him. Then, last summer, Typhon was defeated again-”  
  
“And his death released another wave of venti,” Jason guessed. “Which made Aeolus even angrier.”  
  
“C’est vrai,” Boreas agreed. "My master is especially angry at your companion here, as it was her that founded the plan for her father to finally defeatTyphon."  
  
“But, Your Majesty,” Chrissie said, “the gods had no choice but to battle Typhon. He was going to destroy Olympus! My father was the only hope, and he already paid the price: his entire home has been destroyed. Besides, why punish demigods for this?”  
  
The king shrugged. “Aeolus cannot take out his anger on the gods. They are his bosses, and very powerful. So he gets even with the demigods who helped them in the war. He issued orders to us: demigods who come to us for aid are no longer to be tolerated. We are to crush your little mortal faces.”

There was an uncomfortable silence.  
  
“That sounds... extreme,” I ventured. “But you’re not going to crush our faces yet, right? You’re going to listen to us first, ’cause once you hear about our quest-”  
  
“Yes, yes,” the king agreed. “You see, Aeolus also said that a son of Zeus might seek my aid, and if this happened, I should listen to you before destroying you, as you might - how did he put it? - make all our lives very interesting. I am only obligated to listen, however. After that, I am free to pass judgment as I see fit. But I will listen first. Khione wishes this also. It may be that we will not kill you.”  
  
I felt like I could almost breathe again. “Great. Thanks.”  
  
“Do not thank me.” Boreas smiled. “There are many ways you could make our lives interesting. Sometimes we keep demigods for our amusement, as you can see.”  
  
He gestured around the room to the various ice statues.  
  
Piper made a strangled noise. “You mean- they’re all demigods? Frozen demigods? They’re alive?”  
  
“An interesting question,” Boreas conceded, as if it had never occurred to him before. “They do not move unless they are obeying my orders. The rest of the time, they are merely frozen. Unless they were to melt, I suppose, which would be very messy.”  
  
Khione stepped behind me and put her cold fingers on my neck. “My father gives me such lovely presents,” she murmured in my ear. “Join our court. Perhaps I’ll let your friends go.”  
  
“What?” Zethes broke in. “If Khione gets this one, then I deserve the girls. Khione always gets more presents!”  
  
“Now, children,” Boreas said sternly. “Our guests will think you are spoiled! Besides, you moved too fast. We have not even heard the demigod’s story yet. Then we will decide what to do with them. Please, Jason Grace, entertain us.”  
  
I felt my brain shutting down. I didn’t look at the girls for fear I’d completely lose it. I'd gotten them into this, and now they were going die - or worse, they’d be amusements for Boreas’s children and end up frozen forever in this throne room, slowly corroding from freezer burn.  
  
Khione purred and stroked my neck. I didn’t plan it, but electricity sparked along my skin. There was loud _pop_ , and Khione flew backward, skidding across the floor.  
  
Zethes laughed. “That is good! I’m glad you did that, even though I have to kill you now.”  
  
For a moment, Khione was too stunned to react. Then the air around her began to swirl with a micro-blizzard. “You dare-”  
  
“Stop,” I ordered, with as much force as I could muster. “You’re not going to kill us. And you’re not going to keep us. We’re on a quest for the queen of the gods herself, so unless you want Hera busting down your doors, you’re going to let us go.”  
  
I sounded a lot more confident than I felt, but it got their attention. Khione’s blizzard swirled to a stop. Zethes lowered his sword. They both looked uncertainly at their father.  
  
“Hmm,” Boreas said. His eyes twinkled, but I couldn’t tell if it was with anger or amusement. “A son of Zeus, favored by Hera? This is definitely a first. Tell us your story.”  
  
I would’ve botched it right there. I hadn’t been expecting to get the chance to talk, and now that I could, my voice abandoned me.  
  
Piper saved us. “Your Majesty.” She curtsied again with incredible poise, considering her life was on the line. She told Boreas the whole story, from the Grand Canyon to the prophecy, much better and faster than I could have.  
  
“All we ask for is guidance,” Piper concluded. “These storm spirits attacked us, and they’re working for some evil mistress. If we find them, maybe we can find Hera.”  
  
The king stroked the icicles in his beard. Out the windows, night had fallen, and the only light came from the aurora borealis overhead, washing everything in red and blue.  
  
“I know of these storm spirits,” Boreas said. “I know where they are kept, and of the prisoner they took.”  
  
“You mean Coach Hedge?” I asked. “He’s alive?”  
  
Boreas waved aside the question. “For now. But the one who controls these storm winds... It would be madness to oppose her. You would be better staying here as frozen statues.”  
  
“Hera’s in trouble,” I said. “In three days she’s going to be- I don’t know- consumed, destroyed, something. And a giant is going to rise.”  
  
“Yes,” Boreas agreed. Was it my imagination, or did he shoot Khione an angry look? “Many horrible things are waking. Even my children do not tell me all the news they should. The Great Stirring of monsters that began with Kronos - your father Zeus foolishly believed it would end when the Titans were defeated. But just as it was before, so it is now. The final battle is yet to come, and the one who will wake is more terrible than any Titan. Storm spirits - these are only beginning. The earth has many more horrors to yield up. When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades... Olympus has good reason to fear.”  
  
I wasn’t sure what all this meant, but I didn’t like the way Khione was smiling - like this was her definition of fun.  
  
“So you’ll help us?” Chrissie asked the king.  
  
Boreas scowled. “I did not say that.”  
  
“Please, Your Majesty,” Piper said.  
  
Everyone’s eyes turned toward her. She had to be scared out of her mind, but she looked beautiful and confident - and it had nothing to do with the blessing of Aphrodite. She looked herself again, in day-old traveling clothes with choppy hair and no makeup. But she almost glowed with warmth in that cold throne room. “If you tell us where the storm spirits are, we can capture them and bring them to Aeolus. You’d look good in front of your boss. Aeolus might pardon us and the other demigods. We could even rescue Gleeson Hedge. Everyone wins.”  
  
“She’s pretty,” Zethes mumbled. “I mean, she’s right.”  
  
“Father, don’t listen to her,” Khione said. “She’s a child of Aphrodite. She dares to charmspeak a god? Freeze her now!”

Boreas considered this. I slipped my hand in my pocket and got ready to bring out the gold coin. If things went wrong, I’d have to move fast.  
  
The movement caught Boreas’s eye. “What is that on your forearm, demigod?”  
  
I hadn’t realized my coat sleeve had gotten pushed up, revealing the edge of my tattoo. Reluctantly, I showed Boreas the marks.  
  
The god’s eyes widened. Khione actually hissed and stepped away.  
  
Then Boreas did something unexpected. He laughed so loudly, an icicle cracked from the ceiling and crashed next to his throne. The god’s form began to flicker. His beard disappeared. He grew taller and thinner, and his clothes changed into a Roman toga, lined with purple. His head was crowned with a frosty laurel wreath, and a gladius - a Roman sword like mine - hung at his side.  
  
“Aquilon,” I said, though where I got the god’s Roman name from, I had no idea.  
  
The god inclined his head. “You recognize me better in this form, yes? And yet you said you came from Camp Half-Blood?”  
  
I shifted my feet. “Uh... yes, Your Majesty.”  
  
“And Hera sent you there...” The winter god’s eyes were full of mirth. “I understand now. Oh, she plays a dangerous game. Bold, but dangerous! No wonder Olympus is closed. They must be trembling at the gamble she has taken.”  
  
“Jason,” Chrissie said nervously, “why did Boreas change shape? The toga, the wreath. What’s going on?”  
  
“It’s his Roman form,” I said. “But what’s going on - I don’t know.”  
  
The god laughed. “No, I’m sure you don’t. This should be very interesting to watch.”  
  
“Does that mean you’ll let us go?” Piper asked.  
  
“My dear,” Boreas said, “there is no reason for me to kill you. If Hera’s plan fails, which I think it will, you will tear each other apart. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again.”  
  
I felt as if Khione’s cold fingers were on my neck again, but it wasn’t her - it was just the feeling that Boreas was right. That sense of wrongness which had bothered me since I got to Camp Half-Blood, and Chiron’s comment about his arrival being disastrous - Boreas knew what they meant.  
  
“I don’t suppose you could explain?” I asked.  
  
“Oh, perish the thought! It is not for me to interfere in Hera’s plan. No wonder she took your memory.” Boreas chuckled, apparently still having a great time imagining demigods tearing each other apart. “You know, I have a reputation as a helpful wind god. Unlike my brethren, I’ve been known to fall in love with mortals. Why, my sons Zethes and Calais started as demigods-”  
  
“Which explains why they are idiots,” Khione growled.  
  
“Stop it!” Zethes snapped back. “Just because you were born a full goddess-”  
  
“Both of you, freeze,” Boreas ordered. Apparently, that word carried a lot of weight in the household, because the two siblings went absolutely still. “Now, as I was saying, I have a good reputation, but it is rare that Boreas plays an important role in the affairs of gods. I sit here in my palace, at the edge of civilization, and so rarely have amusements. Why, even that fool Notus, the South Wind, gets spring break in Cancún. What do I get? A winter festival with naked Québécois rolling around in the snow!”  
  
“I like the winter festival,” Zethes muttered.  
  
“My point,” Boreas snapped, “is that I now have a chance to be the center. Oh, yes, I will let you go on this quest. You will find your storm spirits in the windy city, of course. Chicago-”  
  
“Father!” Khione protested.  
  
Boreas ignored his daughter. “If you can capture the winds, you may be able to gain safe entrance to the court of Aeolus. If by some miracle you succeed, be sure to tell him you captured the winds on my orders.”  
  
“Okay, sure,” I said. “So Chicago is where we’ll find this lady who’s controlling the winds? She’s the one who’s trapped Hera?”  
  
“Ah.” Boreas grinned. “Those are two different questions, son of Jupiter.”  
  
 _Jupiter_ , I noticed. Before, he called me _son of Zeus._  
  
“The one who controls the winds,” Boreas continued, “yes, you will find her in Chicago. But she is only a servant - a servant who is very likely to destroy you. If you succeed against her and take the winds, then you may go to Aeolus. Only he has knowledge of all the winds on the earth. All secrets come to his fortress eventually. If anyone can tell you where Hera is imprisoned, it is Aeolus. As for who you will meet when you finally find Hera’s cage - truly, if I told you that, you would beg me to freeze you.”  
  
“Father,” Khione protested, “you can’t simply let them-”  
  
“I can do what I like,” he said, his voice hardening. “I am still master here, am I not?”  
  
The way Boreas glared at his daughter, it was obvious they had some ongoing argument. Khione’s eyes flashed with anger, but she clenched her teeth. “As you wish, Father.”  
  
“Now go, demigods,” Boreas said, “before I change my mind. Zethes, escort them out safely.”  
  
We all bowed, and the god of the North Wind dissolved into mist.  
  
Back in the entry hall, Cal and Leo were waiting for us. Leo looked cold but unharmed. He’d even gotten cleaned up, and his clothes looked newly washed, like he’d used the hotel’s valet service. Festus the dragon was back in normal form, snorting fire over his scales to keep himself defrosted.

As Khione led us down the stairs, I noticed that Leo’s eyes followed her. Leo started combing his hair back with his hands. _Uh-oh_ , I thought. I made a mental note to warn Leo about the snow goddess later. She was _not_ someone to get a crush on.  
  
At the bottom step, Khione turned to Piper. “You have fooled my father, girl. But you have not fooled me. We are not done - neither are the two of us, daughter of Poseidon. And you, Jason Grace, I will see you as a statue in the throne room soon enough.”  
  
“Boreas is right,” I said. “You’re a spoiled kid. See you around, ice princess.”  
  
Khione’s eyes flared pure white. For once, she seemed at a loss for words. She stormed back up the stairs - literally. Halfway up, she turned into a blizzard and disappeared.  
  
“Be careful,” Zethes warned. “She never forgets an insult.”  
  
Cal grunted in agreement. “Bad sister.”  
  
“She’s the goddess of snow,” I said. “What’s she going to do, throw snowballs at us?” But as I said it, I had a feeling Khione could do a whole lot worse.  
  
Leo looked devastated. “What happened up there? You made her mad? Is she mad at me too? Guys, that was my prom date!”  
  
“We’ll explain later,” Piper promised, but when she glanced at me, I realized she expected me to explain.  
  
What had happened up there? I wasn’t sure. Boreas had turned into Aquilon, his Roman form, as if my presence caused him to go schizophrenic.  
  
The idea that I had been sent to Camp Half-Blood seemed to amuse the god, but Boreas/Aquilon hadn’t let us go out of kindness. Cruel excitement had danced in his eyes, as if he’d just placed a bet on a dogfight.  
  
 _You will tear each other apart_ , he’d said with delight. _Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again._  
  
I looked away from Piper, trying not to show how unnerved I was. “Yeah,” I agreed, “we’ll explain later.”  
  
“Be careful, pretty girls,” Zethes said. “The winds between here and Chicago are bad-tempered. Many other evil things are stirring. I am sorry you will not be staying. You would make a lovely ice statue, in which I could check my reflection.”  
  
“Thanks,” Piper said. “But I’d sooner play hockey with Cal.”  
  
“Hockey?” Cal’s eyes lit up.  
  
“Joking,” Piper said.

“But the storm winds aren’t our worst problem, are they?” Chrissie put in.  
  
“Oh, no,” Zethes agreed. “Something else. Something worse.”  
  
“Worse,” Cal echoed.  
  
“Can you tell me?” Piper gave them a smile.  
  
This time, the charm didn’t work. The purple-winged Boreads shook their heads in unison. The hangar doors opened onto a freezing starry night, and Festus the dragon stomped his feet, anxious to fly.  
  
“Ask Aeolus what is worse,” Zethes said darkly. “He knows. Good luck.”  
  
He almost sounded like he cared what happened to us, even though a few minutes ago he’d wanted to make Piper into an ice sculpture.  
  
Cal patted Leo on the shoulder. “Don’t get destroyed,” he said, which was probably the longest sentence he’d ever attempted. “Next time—hockey. Pizza.”  
  
“Come on, guys.” I stared out at the dark. I was anxious to get out of that cold penthouse, but I had a feeling it was the most hospitable place we’d see for a while. “Let’s go to Chicago and try not to get destroyed.”


	10. Chapter 10

**CHRISSIE**

I didn't relax until the glow of Quebec City faded behind us.  
  
“You were amazing,” Jason told Piper.  
  
She responded something in French, but she looked absolutely miserable.

“What’d you say?” he asked.  
  
“I said I only talked to Boreas. It wasn’t so amazing.”

I turned around to see Jason was smiling.  
  
“Hey,” he said, “you saved me from joining Khione’s subzero hero collection. I owe you one. Speaking of the ice princess" - he turned to me - "what happened between you two? You seemed to have some pretty intense history."

"Ah, she just got offended one time I lost my temper and created a gigantic blizzard. Something about _don't venture into my domain, you insolent young child, blah blah blah, I'll get you back for this, et cetera._ Don't worry about it, she hasn't actually done anything and I doubt she will."  
  
Leo passed us some sandwiches from his pack. He’d been quiet ever since we’d told him what happened in the throne room. “I still can’t believe her,” he said. “She looked so nice.”  
  
“Trust me, dude,” I said. “Snow may be pretty, but up close it’s cold and nasty. We’ll find you a better prom date.”  
  
Leo didn’t look pleased. He hadn’t said much about his time in the palace, or why the Boreads had singled him out for smelling like fire. I got the feeling he was hiding something. Whatever it was, his mood seemed to be affecting Festus, who grumbled and steamed as he tried to keep himself warm in the cold Canadian air. Happy the Dragon was not so happy.

We ate our sandwiches as they flew. I had no idea how Leo had stocked up on supplies, but he’d even remembered to bring veggie rations for Piper.  
  
Nobody talked. Whatever we might find in Chicago, we all knew Boreas had only let us go because he figured we were already on a suicide mission.  
  
The moon rose and stars turned overhead. My eyes started to feel heavy. The encounter with Boreas and his children had drained me more than I wanted to admit, and I was already running on low battery from searching for Percy. Now that I had a full stomach, my four-day-long adrenaline rush was fading.

Piper seemed to be just as tired as I was, as she leaned forward against Leo and closed her eyes. I decided to follow her example, leaning back against Jason's warm chest. He didn't complain, so let my thoughts dissolve into a pleasantly dreamless slumber.

Waking up, however, was anything _but_ pleasant.

We were falling, Piper was screaming, and Leo was yelling something like "Not coooooool!"

I vaguely registered city lights glimmering in the early dawn far below, and Festus spinning out of control a couple hundred yards away from me. Then Jason bumped into me, and I gratefully wrapped my arms around his torso.

He yelled, “Piper, level out! Extend your arms and legs!”  
  
She could actually hear him, thank the gods, so she fell spread-eagle like a skydiver until we caught up. I wrapped one of my arms around her, and Jason did the same.  
  
“We have to get Leo!” she shouted.  
  
Our fall slowed as Jason controlled the winds, but we still lurched up and down like the winds didn’t want to cooperate.  
  
“Gonna get rough,” Jason warned. “Hold on!”  
  
Piper locked her arms around us tightly, and we shot toward the ground. I probably screamed, but the sound was ripped from my mouth. My vision blurred.  
  
And then, _thump_! we slammed into another warm body - Leo, still wriggling and cursing.  
  
“Stop fighting!” I screamed. “It’s us!”  
  
“My dragon!” Leo yelled. “You gotta save Festus!”  
  
Jason was already struggling to keep the four of us aloft, and I knew there was no way he could help a fifty-ton metal dragon. But before any of us could try to reason with Leo, I heard an explosion below us. A fireball rolled into the sky from behind a warehouse complex, and Leo sobbed, “Festus!”  
  
Jason’s face reddened with strain as he tried to maintain an air cushion beneath us, but intermittent slow-downs were the best he could manage. Rather than free-falling, it felt like we were bouncing down a giant staircase, a hundred feet at a time, which wasn’t doing my stomach any favors.  
  
As we wobbled and zigzagged, I could make out details of the factory complex below - warehouses, smokestacks, barbed-wire fences, and parking lots lined with snow-covered vehicles. We were still high enough so that hitting the ground would flatten us into roadkill - or skykill - when Jason groaned, “I can’t-”

And so we dropped like stones.

We hit the roof of the largest warehouse and crashed through into darkness.

I rolled to absorb as much impact as possible, and I whipped out my daggers, just in case.

I looked around for a second, and spotted Piper a couple feet away.

Unfortunately, it seemed she had tried to land on her feet. Her feet didn’t like that: I don't think her toes were supposed to point that way.  
  
I heard Jason's voice somewhere below, echoing through the building. "Chrissie! Piper! Where are you?"  
  
“Ow, bro!” Leo groaned. “That’s my back! I’m not a sofa! Girls, where’d you go?”

"We're here," I called out, already rummaging through my backpack for ambrosia, which I desperately hoped I hadn't forgotten to pack in my ADHD-induced craze.  
  
I was half-aware of Piper scanning around the room until Jason and Leo reached her side.  
  
Leo started to ask, “You okay...?” Then he apparently saw her foot. “Oh no, you’re not.”  
  
“Thanks for the reassurance,” Piper groaned.  
  
“You’ll be fine,” Jason said, though I could hear the worry in his voice. “Leo, you got any first aid supplies?”  
  
“Yeah- yeah, sure.” He dug around in his tool belt and pulled out a wad of gauze and a roll of duct tape - both of which seemed too big for the belt’s pockets. I had noticed the tool belt yesterday morning, but I hadn’t thought to ask Leo about it. It didn’t look like anything special - just one of those wraparound leather aprons with a bunch of pockets, like a blacksmith or a carpenter might wear. And it seemed to be empty.  
  
“How did you-” Piper tried to sit up, and winced. “How did pull that stuff from an empty belt?”  
  
“Magic,” Leo said. “Haven’t figure it out completely, but I can summon just about any regular tool out of the pockets, plus some other helpful stuff.” He reached into another pocket and pulled out a little tin box. “Breath mint?”  
  
Jason snatched away the mints. “That’s great, Leo. Now, can you fix her foot?”  
  
“I’m a mechanic, man. Maybe if she was a car...” He snapped his fingers. “Wait, what was that godly healing stuff they fed you at camp - Rambo food?”  
  
“Ambrosia, dummy,” I said. “There should be some in my bag, unless I forgot to pack it, of course- wait, I think...” I finally pulled out a Ziploc full of smashed pastry squares. I broke off a piece and carefully fed it to Piper.  
  
“More,” she said.  
  
I frowned. “Piper, we shouldn’t risk it. Too much can burn you up, and I'm not a camp medic in the slightest. I think someone should try to set your foot.”

"I'll do it," Jason said after a moment of silence  
  
“Have you ever done that before?” Piper sounded hesitant  
  
“Yeah... I think so.”  
  
Leo found an old piece of wood and broke it in half for a splint. Then he got the gauze and duct tape ready.  
  
“Hold her leg still,” Jason told me. “Piper, this is going to hurt.”  
  
When Jason set the foot, Piper flinched so hard she punched Leo in the arm, and he yelled almost as much as she did. Jason made sure her foot was pointing the right way and splinted her ankle with the plywood, gauze and duct tape.  
  
“Ow,” she said finally.  
  
“Jeez, beauty queen!” Leo rubbed his arm. “Glad my face wasn’t there.”  
  
“Sorry,” she said. “And don’t call me ‘beauty queen,’ or I’ll punch you again.”  
  
“You both did great.” I rolled my eyes at Jason's comment as I gave Piper some water. A few minutes of silence passed as we all took in our surroundings.

“What happened to the dragon?” Piper finally asked. “Where are we?”  
  
Leo’s expression turned sullen. “I don’t know with Festus. He just jerked sideways like he hit an invisible wall and started to fall.”  
  
I pointed to the logo on the wall. “As far as where we are...” It was hard to see through the graffiti, but I could make out a large red eye with the stenciled words: monocle motors, assembly plant 1.  
  
“Closed car plant,” Leo finished. “I’m guessing we crash-landed in Detroit.”  
  
I had heard about closed car plants in Detroit, so that made sense. It did seem like a pretty depressing place to land, though. “How far is that from Chicago?”  
  
Jason put away the canteen. “Maybe three-fourths of the way from Quebec? The thing is, without the dragon, we’re stuck traveling overland.”  
  
“No way,” Leo said. “It isn’t safe.”  
  
Piper seemed deep in thought. “He’s right. Besides, I don’t know if I can walk. And four people - Jason, you can’t fly that many across country by yourself.”  
  
“No way,” Jason said. “Leo, are you sure the dragon didn’t malfunction? I mean, Festus is old, and-”  
  
“And I might not have repaired him right?”  
  
“I didn’t say that,” Jason protested. “It’s just- maybe you could fix it.”  
  
“I don’t know.” Leo sounded crestfallen. He pulled a few screws out of his pockets and started fiddling with them. “I’d have to find where he landed, if he’s even in one piece.”  
  
“It was my fault.” Piper said. I frowned.  
  
“Piper,” I said gently, “you were asleep when Festus conked out. It couldn’t be your fault.”  
  
“Yeah, you’re just shaken up,” Leo agreed. He didn’t even try to make a joke at her expense. “You’re in pain. Just rest.”  
  
Piper didn't look convinced, but she didn't argue either.  
  
Leo stood. “Look, um, guys, why don’t you stay with her for protection? I’ll scout around for Festus. I think he fell outside the warehouse somewhere. If I can find him, maybe I can figure out what happened and fix him.”  
  
“It’s too dangerous,” Jason said. “You shouldn’t go by yourself.”  
  
“Ah, I got duct tape and breath mints. I’ll be fine,” Leo said, a little too quickly, and I realized he was a lot more shaken up than he was letting on.

"I'll join you, for protection. I gotta update Annabeth, anyway." I didn't leave room to argue, so Leo finally nodded. I turned to Jason and Piper and winked. "You guys just don’t run off without us.”  
  
Leo reached into his magic tool belt, pulled out a flashlight, and headed down the stairs, with me in tow.


	11. Chapter 11

**LEO**

I wished the dragon hadn't landed on the toilets.

Of all the places to crash, a line of Porta-Potties would not have been my first choice. A dozen of the blue plastic boxes had been set up in the factory yard, and Festus had flattened them all. Fortunately, they hadn’t been used in a long time, and the fireball from the crash incinerated most of the contents; but still, there were some pretty gross chemicals leaking out of the wreckage. We had to pick our way through and try not to breathe through our noses. Heavy snow was coming down, but the dragon’s hide was still steaming hot. Of course, that didn’t bother me, but Chrissie kept a distance, not looking too pleased with the situation.

"Hey, I'm going to get that message out to Annabeth, okay? I'll be back in a few." I nodded, and she left.  
  
After a few minutes climbing over Festus’s inanimate body, I started to get irritated. The dragon looked perfectly fine. Yes, it had fallen out of the sky and landed with a big ka-boom, but its body wasn’t even dented. The fireball had apparently come from built up gasses inside the toilet units, not from the dragon itself. Festus’s wings were intact. Nothing seemed broken. There was no reason it should have stopped.  
  
“Not my fault,” I muttered. “Festus, you’re making me look bad.”  
  
Then I opened the control panel on the dragon’s head, and my heart sank. “Oh, Festus, what the heck?”  
  
The wiring had frozen over. I knew it had been okay yesterday. I’d worked so hard to repair the corroded lines, but something had caused a flash freeze inside the dragon’s skull, where it should’ve been too hot for ice to form. The ice had caused the wiring to overload and char the control disk. I couldn’t see any reason that would’ve happened. Sure, the dragon was old, but still, it didn’t make sense.  
  
I could replace the wires. That wasn’t the problem. But the charred control disk was not good. The Greek letters and pictures carved around the edges, which probably held all kinds of magic, were blurred and blackened.  
  
The one piece of hardware I couldn’t replace - and it was damaged. Again.  
  
I imagined my mom’s voice: _Most problems look worse than they are, mijo. Nothing is unfixable._  
  
My mom could repair just about anything, but I was pretty sure she’d never worked on a fifty-year-old magic metal dragon.  
  
I clenched my teeth and decided I had to try. I wasn’t walking from Detroit to Chicago in a snowstorm, and I wasn’t going to be responsible for stranding my friends.  
  
“Right,” I muttered, brushing the snow off my shoulders.  
  
“Gimme a nylon bristle detail brush, some nitrile gloves, and maybe a can of that aerosol cleaning solvent.”  
  
The tool belt obliged. I couldn’t help smiling as I pulled out the supplies. The belt’s pockets did have limits. They wouldn’t give him anything magic, like Jason’s sword, or anything huge, like a chain saw. I’d tried asking for both. And if I asked for too many things at once, the belt needed a cool-down time before it could work again. The more complicated the request, the longer the cool-down. But anything small and simple like you might find around a workshop - all I had to do was ask.  
  
I began cleaning off the control disk. While I worked, snow collected on the cooling dragon. I had to stop from time to time to summon fire and melt it away, but mostly I went into autopilot mode, my hands working by themselves as my thoughts wandered.  
  
I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d acted back at Boreas’s palace. I should’ve figured a family of winter gods would hate me on sight. Son of the fire god flying a fire-breathing dragon into an ice penthouse - yeah, maybe not the best move. Still, I hated feeling like a reject. The others got to visit the throne room. I got to wait in the lobby with Cal, the demigod of hockey and major head injuries.  
  
 _Fire is bad_ , Cal had told me.  
  
That pretty much summed it up. I knew I couldn’t keep the truth from my friends much longer. Ever since Camp Half-Blood, one line of that Great Prophecy kept coming back to me: _To storm or fire the world must fall._  
  
And I was the fire guy, the first one since 1666 when London had burned down. If I told his friends what I could really do - _Hey, guess what, guys? I might destroy the world! -_ why would anyone welcome me back at camp? I would have to go on the run again. Even though I knew that drill, the idea depressed me.  
  
Then there was Khione. Dang, that girl was fine. I knew I’d acted like a total fool, but I couldn’t help myself. I’d had my clothes cleaned with the one-hour valet service - which had been totally sweet, by the way. I’d combed my hair - never an easy job - and even discovered the tool bag could make breath mints, all in hopes that I could get close to her. Naturally, no such luck.  
  
Getting frozen out - story of his life - by my relatives, foster homes, you name it. Even at Wilderness School, I had spent the last few weeks feeling like a third wheel as Jason and Piper, my only friends, became a couple. I was happy for them and all, but still it made me feel like they didn’t need me anymore.  
  
When I’d found out that Jason’s whole time at school had been an illusion - a kind of a memory burp - I had been secretly excited. It was a chance for a reset. But now Jason was starting to get couple-y again, this time with Chrissie, who seemed to have no clue of it whatsoever.

Either way, Khione had just given me the cold shoulder a little quicker than most.  
  
“Enough, Valdez,” I scolded himself. “Nobody’s going to play any violins for you just because you’re not important. Fix the stupid dragon.”  
  
I got so involved with the work, I wasn’t sure how much time had passed before I heard the voice.  
  
 _You’re wrong, Leo,_ it said.  
  
I fumbled my brush and dropped it into the dragon’s head. I stood, but I couldn’t see who’d spoken. Then I looked at the ground. Snow and chemical sludge from the toilets, even the asphalt itself was shifting like it was turning to liquid. A ten-foot-wide area formed eyes, a nose, and a mouth—the giant face of a sleeping woman.  
  
She didn’t exactly speak. Her lips didn’t move. But I could hear her voice in my head, as if the vibrations were coming through the ground, straight into my feet and resonating up my skeleton.  
  
 _They need you desperately_ , she said. _In some ways, you are the most important of the eight - like the control disk in the dragon’s brain. Without you, the power of the others means nothing. They will never reach me, never stop me. And I will fully wake._  
  
“You.” I was shaking so badly I wasn’t sure I’d spoken aloud. I hadn’t heard that voice since I was eight, but it was her: the earthen woman from the machine shop. “You killed my mom.”  
  
The face shifted. The mouth formed a sleepy smile like it was having a pleasant dream. _Ah, but Leo. I am your mother too - the First Mother. Do not oppose me. Walk away now. Let my son Porphyrion rise and become king, and I will ease your burdens. You will tread lightly on the earth._  
  
I grabbed the nearest thing I could find - a Porta-Potty seat - and threw it at the face. “Leave me alone!”  
  
The toilet seat sank into the liquid earth. Snow and sludge rippled, and the face dissolved.  
  
I stared at the ground, waiting for the face to reappear. But it didn’t. I wanted to think I’d imagined it.  
  
Then from the direction of the factory, I heard a crash - like two dump trucks slamming together. Metal crumpled and groaned, and the noise echoed across the yard. Instantly I knew that Jason and Piper were in trouble.

"You hear that?" I yelped at Chrissie suddenly speaking from behind me. "That's gotta be danger. We gotta help."  
  
 _Walk away now_ , the voice had urged.  
  
“Not likely,” I growled under my breath. Then, out loud, I commanded: “Gimme the biggest hammer you got.”  
  
I reached into the tool belt and pulled out a three-pound club hammer with a double-faced head the size of a baked potato. Then I jumped off the dragon’s back and, together, we ran toward the warehouse.


	12. Chapter 12

**CHRISSIE**

We stopped at the doors. I took out my dagger handles and shook them for the blades to come out. Leo looked inside first, then I followed his example.

Nothing looked different. Gray morning light filtered through the hole in the roof. A few lightbulbs flickered, but most of the factory floor was still lost in shadows. I could make out the catwalk above, the dim shapes of heavy machinery along the assembly line, but no movement. No sign of our friends.  
  
I almost called out, but something stopped me - a sense I couldn’t identify. Then I realized it was smell. Something smelled wrong - like burning motor oil and sour breath.  
  
Something not human was inside the factory. My body shifted into fight-mode, ADHD brain ready for anything coming my way.  
  
Somewhere on the factory floor, Piper’s voice cried out: “Leo, help!”  
  
I gestured for Leo to remain silent. How could Piper have gotten off the catwalk with her broken ankle?  
  
We slipped inside and ducked behind a cargo container. Slowly, gripping my daggers, we worked our way toward the center of the room, hiding behind boxes and hollow truck chassis. Finally we reached the assembly line. Leo crouched behind the nearest piece of machinery - a crane with a robotic arm. He was still holding onto his hammer like his life depended on it.  
  
Piper’s voice called out again: “Leo?” Less certain this time, but very close.  
  
We peeked around either side of the machinery. Hanging directly above the assembly line, suspended by a chain from a crane on the opposite side, was a massive truck engine - just dangling thirty feet up, as if it had been left there when the factory was abandoned. Below it on the conveyor belt sat a truck chassis, and clustered around it were three dark shapes the size of forklifts. Nearby, dangling from chains on two other robotic arms, were two smaller shapes - maybe more engines, but one of them was twisting around as if it were alive.  
  
Then one of the forklift shapes rose, and I realized it was a humanoid of massive size. “Told you it was nothing,” the thing rumbled. Its voice was too deep and feral to be human, and I realized what I'd been stupid enough to ignore. The single red eye in the logo, the mechanical area as a home, and now the voice-imitation.

"Cyclopes," I whispered to Leo.  
  
One of the others, and called out in Piper’s voice: “Leo, help me! Help-” Then the voice changed, becoming a masculine snarl. “Bah, there’s nobody out there. No demigod could be that quiet, eh?”  
  
The first monster chuckled. “Probably ran away, if he knows what’s good for him. Or the girl was lying about more demigods. Let’s get cooking.”  
  
Snap. A bright orange light sizzled to life - an emergency flare - and I was temporarily blinded. I ducked back behind the crane and tried to blink the spots out of my eyes. Then I peeked around again and nearly had a heart-attack.  
  
The two smaller things dangling from crane arms weren’t engines. They were Jason and Piper. Both hung upside down, tied by their ankles and cocooned with chains up to their necks. Piper was flailing around, trying to free herself. Her mouth was gagged, but at least she was alive. Jason didn’t look so good. He hung limply, his eyes rolled up in his head. A red welt the size of an apple had swollen over his left eyebrow.  
  
On the conveyor belt, the bed of the unfinished pickup truck was being used as a fire pit. The emergency flare had ignited a mixture of tires and wood, which, from the smell of it, had been doused in kerosene. A big metal pole was suspended over the flames - a spit, I realized, which meant this was a cooking fire.  
  
But most terrifying of all were the cooks.  
  
Three massive humanoids gathered around the fire. Two were standing, stoking the flames. The largest one crouched with his back to us. The two facing us were each ten feet tall, with hairy muscular bodies and skin that glowed red in the firelight. One of the monsters wore a chain mail loincloth that looked really uncomfortable. The other wore a ragged fuzzy toga made of fiberglass insulation, which also would not have made Leo’s top ten wardrobe ideas. Other than that, the two monsters could’ve been twins. Each had a brutish face with a single red eye in the center of his forehead.

I got slight flashbacks to Polyphemus, but shrugged it off. I couldn't afford to get scared of these creatures. Not with my friends in danger.  
  
Next to me, Leo slipped off his backpack and quietly started to unzip it.  
  
The Cyclops in the chain mail loincloth walked over to Piper, who squirmed and tried to head-butt him in the eye. “Can I take her gag off now? I like it when they scream.”  
  
The question was directed at the third Cyclops, apparently the leader. The crouching figure grunted, and Loincloth ripped the gag off Piper’s mouth.  
  
She didn’t scream. She took a shaky breath like she was trying to keep herself calm.  
  
Meanwhile, Leo found what he wanted in the pack: a stack of... things, heck if I knew what the were. He looked around the crane until he found a little panel, slipped a screwdriver from his tool belt, and went to work. He had to go slowly, though. The leader Cyclops was only twenty feet in front of us, and they had excellent senses.

The Cyclops in the toga poked at the fire, which was now blazing away and billowing noxious black smoke toward the ceiling. His buddy Loincloth glowered at Piper, waiting for her to do something entertaining. “Scream, girl! I like funny screaming!”  
  
When Piper finally spoke, her tone was calm and reasonable, like she was correcting a naughty puppy. “Oh, Mr. Cyclops, you don’t want to kill us. It would be much better if you let us go.”  
  
Loincloth scratched his ugly head. He turned to his friend in the fiberglass toga. “She’s kind of pretty, Torque. Maybe I should let her go.”  
  
Torque, the dude in the toga, growled. “I saw her first, Sump. I’ll let her go!” Sump and Torque started to argue, but the third Cyclops rose and shouted, “Fools!”  
  
Leo paused: the third Cyclops was a female. She was several feet taller than Torque or Sump, and even beefier. She wore a tent of chain mail cut like one of those sack dresses, what’d they call that - a muumuu? Yeah, the Cyclops lady had a chain mail muumuu. Her greasy black hair was matted in pigtails, woven with copper wires and metal washers. Her nose and mouth were thick and smashed together, like she spent her free time ramming her face into walls; but her single red eye glittered with evil intelligence.  
  
The woman Cyclops stalked over to Sump and pushed him aside, knocking him over the conveyor belt. Torque backed up quickly.  
  
“The girl is Venus spawn,” the lady Cyclops snarled. “She’s using charmspeak on you.”  
  
Piper started to say, “Please, ma’am-”  
  
“Rarr!” The lady Cyclops grabbed Piper around the waist. “Don’t try your pretty talk on me, girl! I’m Ma Gasket! I’ve eaten heroes tougher than you for lunch!”  
  
I feared Piper would get crushed, but Ma Gasket just dropped her and let her dangle from her chain. Then she started yelling at Sump about how stupid he was.  
  
Leo’s hands worked furiously. He twisted wires and turned switches, and I barely had time to process anything of what he was doing. He finished attaching the remote

“—eat her last, Ma?” Sump was saying.  
  
“Idiot!” Ma Gasket yelled, and I realized Sump and Torque must be her sons. If so, ugly definitely ran in the family. What I didn't understand, though, was why this mother of their shad kept them around, instead of the usual Cyclops ritual of them learning their own skills out in the world.

“I should’ve thrown you out on the streets when you were babies, like proper Cyclops children. You might have learned some useful skills. Curse my soft heart that I kept you!”  
  
“Soft heart?” Torque muttered.  
  
“What was that, you ingrate?”  
  
“Nothing, Ma. I said you got a soft heart. We get to work for you, feed you, file your toenails-” Ew.  
  
“And you should be grateful!” Ma Gasket bellowed. “Now, stoke the fire, Torque! And Sump, you idiot, my case of salsa is in the other warehouse. Don’t tell me you expect me to eat these demigods without salsa!”  
  
“Yes, Ma,” Sump said. “I mean no, Ma. I mean-”  
  
“Go get it!” Ma Gasket picked up a nearby truck chassis and slammed it over Sump’s head. Sump crumpled to his knees. I was only half-sure a hit like that would kill him, but Sump apparently was okay. He managed to push the chassis off his head. Then he staggered to his feet and ran off to fetch the salsa.  
  
 _Now’s the time,_ I thought. _While they’re separated._  
  
Leo finished wiring the second machine and moved toward a third. As he dashed between robotic arms, the Cyclopes didn’t see him, but Piper apparently did. Her expression turned from terror to disbelief, and she gasped I ducked my head up and signaled for her to keep quiet as Ma Gasket turned to her. “What’s the matter, girl? So fragile I broke you?”  
  
Thankfully, she was a quick thinker. Piper looked away from Leo and said, “I think it’s my ribs, ma’am. If I’m busted up inside, I’ll taste terrible.”  
  
Ma Gasket bellowed with laughter. “Good one. The last hero we ate - remember him, Torque? Son of Mercury, wasn’t he?”  
  
“Yes, Ma,” Torque said. “Tasty. Little bit stringy.”  
  
“He tried a trick like that. Said he was on medication. But he tasted fine!”  
  
“Tasted like mutton,” Torque recalled. “Purple shirt. Talked in Latin. Yes, a bit stringy, but good.”  
  
I froze. Apparently, Piper was having the same thought I was, because she asked, “Purple shirt? Latin?”  
  
“Good eating,” Ma Gasket said fondly. “Point is, girl, we’re not as dumb as people think! We’re not falling for those stupid tricks and riddles, not us northern Cyclopes.”  
  
My mind was racing. A kid who spoke Latin had been caught here - in a purple shirt like Jason’s? I didn’t know what that meant, but we had to leave the interrogation to Piper. If we were going to have any chance of defeating these monsters, Leo had to move fast with whatever he was doing before Sump came back with the salsa.

As I looked at Leo, praying his plan could go into action quick enough, Piper kept talking, laying on the praise. “Oh, I’ve heard about the northern Cyclopes!” Which I figured was bull, but she sounded convincing. “I never knew you were so big and clever!”  
  
“Flattery won’t work either,” Ma Gasket said, though she sounded pleased. “It’s true, you’ll be breakfast for the best Cyclopes around.”  
  
“But aren’t Cyclopes good?” Piper asked. “I thought you made weapons for the gods.”  
  
“Bah! I’m very good. Good at eating people. Good at smashing. And good at building things, yes, but not for the gods. Our cousins, the elder Cyclopes, they do this, yes. Thinking they’re so high and mighty ’cause they’re a few thousand years older. Then there’s our southern cousins, living on islands and tending sheep. Morons! But we Hyperborean Cyclopes, the northern clan, we’re the best! Founded Monocle Motors in this old factory - the best weapons, armor, chariots, fuel-efficient SUVs! And yet- bah! Forced to shut down. Laid off most of our tribe. The war was too quick. Titans lost. No good! No more need for Cyclops weapons.”  
  
“Oh, no,” Piper sympathized. “I’m sure you made some amazing weapons.”  
  
Torque grinned. “Squeaky war hammer!” He picked up a large pole with an accordion-looking metal box on the end.  
  
He slammed it against the floor and the cement cracked, but there was also a sound like the world’s largest rubber ducky getting stomped.  
  
“Terrifying,” Piper said.  
  
Torque looked pleased. “Not as good as the exploding ax, but this one can be used more than once.”  
  
“Can I see it?” Piper asked. “If you could just free my hands-”  
  
Torque stepped forward eagerly, but Ma Gasket said, “Stupid! She’s tricking you again. Enough talk! Slay the boy first before he dies on his own. I like my meat fresh.”  
  
“Hey, wait,” Piper said, trying to get the Cyclopes’ attention. “Hey, can I just ask-”  
  
The wires sparked in Leo’s hand. The Cyclopes froze and turned in his direction. Then Torque picked up a truck and threw it at him.  
  
Leo rolled as the truck steamrolled over the machinery. If he’d been a half-second slower, he would’ve been smashed.

I realized the Cyclopes didn't know about me yet, which I had to use to our advantage.  
  
When Leo got to his feet, Ma Gasket spotted him. She yelled, “Torque, you pathetic excuse for a Cyclops, get him!”  
  
Torque barreled toward him. Leo frantically gunned the toggle on some makeshift remote, but it wasn't doing anything.  
  
Torque was fifty feet away. Twenty feet. I gripped my daggers and charged. I jumped onto his back and sliced my dagger across his entire back, twisting my body so my weight would create a wider gash. The Cyclops staggered backwards, and I rolled underneath it's legs. Leo's remote started working, apparently as the first robotic arm he'd worked on whirred to life. A heavy yellow metal claw slammed Torque in the back so hard, he landed flat on his face. Before he could recover, I stabbed him in the back of his head, and the robotic hand grabbed him by one leg and hurled him straight up.  
  
“AHHHHH!” Torque rocketed into the gloom. The ceiling was too dark and too high up to see exactly what happened, but judging from the harsh metal clang, I guessed the Cyclops had hit one of the support girders.  
  
Torque never came down. Instead, yellow dust rained to the floor. Torque had disintegrated. I picked up the dagger that clattered down and blew off the monster dust.  
  
Ma Gasket stared at us in shock. “My son... You... You...”  
  
As if on cue, Sump lumbered into the firelight with a case of salsa. “Ma, I got the extra-spicy-”  
  
He never finished his sentence. Leo spun the remote’s toggle, and a second robotic arm whacked Sump in the chest. The salsa case exploded like a piñata and Sump flew backward, right into the base of Leo’s third machine. Sump may have been immune to getting hit with truck chasses, but he wasn’t immune to robotic arms that could deliver ten thousand pounds of force. The third crane arm slammed him against the floor so hard, he exploded into dust like a broken flour sack.  
  
Two Cyclopes down. Leo looked pretty pleased with himself until Ma Gasket locked her eye on him. She grabbed the nearest crane arm and ripped it off its pedestal with a savage roar. “You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!”  
  
Leo punched a button, and the two remaining arms swung into action. Ma Gasket caught the first one and tore it in half. The second arm smacked her in the head, but that only seemed to make her mad. She grabbed it by the clamps, ripped it free, and swung it like a baseball bat. It missed Piper and Jason by an inch. Then Ma Gasket let it go - spinning it toward Leo. He yelped and rolled to one side as it demolished the machine next to him. I ran over and helped him up.  
  
She stood about twenty feet from us now, next to the cooking fire. Her fists were clenched, her teeth bared. She looked ridiculous in her chain mail muumuu and her greasy pigtails - but given the murderous glare in her huge red eye and the fact that she was twelve feet tall, I wasn’t laughing.  
  
“Any more tricks, demigods?” Ma Gasket demanded.  
  
Leo glanced up, and met my gaze. He nudged me, and his eyes flicked to the side, where our friend hang. The message was clear: _protect them_. Leo turned back to the Cyclops as I started inching towards the chained-up demigods.

“Heck, yeah, I got tricks!” Leo raised his remote control. “Take one more step, and I’ll destroy you with fire!”  
  
Ma Gasket laughed. “Would you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with flames, let me help!”  
  
She scooped red-hot coals into her bare hands and flung them at Leo. They landed all around his feet.

“You missed,” he said incredulously. Then Ma Gasket grinned and picked up a barrel next to the truck. I just had time to read the stenciled word on the side - kerosene - before Ma Gasket threw it. The barrel split on the floor in front of him, spilling lighter fluid everywhere.  
  
Coals sparked. Leo closed his eyes, and I screamed, “No!”  
  
A firestorm erupted around him, flames swirling twenty feet into the air. I focused on the cold outside, trying to find the power in me to summon a snowstorm, or a hurricane, _anything_ , but Leo apparently didn’t offer the fire any good fuel. The kerosene burned off very quickly, dying down to small fiery patches on the floor.  
  
Piper gasped. “Leo?”

 _Leo was a fire user?_  
  
Ma Gasket looked astonished. “You live?” Then she took one step forward, right underneath the engine. “What are you?”  
  
“The son of Hephaestus,” Leo said. “And I warned you I’d destroy you with fire.”  
  
He pointed one finger in the air and summoned all his will. He shot a bolt of white-hot flames at the chain suspending the engine block above the Cyclops’s head.  
  
The flames died. Nothing happened. Ma Gasket laughed. “An impressive try, son of Hephaestus. It’s been many centuries since I saw a fire user. You’ll make a spicy appetizer!”  
  
The chain snapped and the engine block fell, deadly and silent.  
  
“I don’t think so,” Leo said.  
  
Ma Gasket didn’t even have time to look up.


	13. Chapter 13

**CHRISSIE**

_Smash_! No more Cyclops - just a pile of dust under a five-ton engine block.  
  
“Not immune to engines, huh?” Leo said. “Boo-yah!”  
  
Then he fell to his knees. I rushed to him, and fed him some ambrosia. "You alright there, dude?"

"I guess," he mumbled.

"Up for moving?" Instead of answering, he got up and started to get Piper down from her chains. When we got her down, it took all three of us just a minute or so to lower Jason, who was still unconscious. I managed to trickle a little nectar into his mouth, and he groaned. The welt on his head started to shrink. His color came back a little.  
  
“Yeah, he’s got a nice thick skull,” Leo said. “I think he’s gonna be fine.”  
  
“Thank god,” Piper sighed. Then she looked at Leo with something like fear. “How did you- the fire- have you always...?”  
  
Leo looked down. “Always,” he said. “I’m a freaking menace. Sorry, I should’ve told you guys sooner but-”  
  
“Sorry?” Piper punched his arm. When he looked up, she was grinning. “That was amazing, Valdez! You saved our lives. What are you sorry about?”  
  
Leo blinked. He started to smile, it vanished when he looked at something next to Piper’s foot. I followed his gaze and gasped.  
  
Yellow dust - the powdered remains of one of the Cyclopes, maybe Torque - was shifting across the floor like an invisible wind was pushing it back together.  
  
“They’re forming again,” Leo said. “Look.”  
  
Piper stepped away from the dust, covering her mouth with her hands.

“That’s not possible," I said. "Monsters dissipate when they’re killed. They go back to Tartarus and can’t return for a long time.”  
  
“Well, nobody told the dust that.” We watched as it collected into a pile, then very slowly spread out, forming a shape with arms and legs.  
  
“Oh, god.” Piper turned pale. “Boreas said something about this - the earth yielding up horrors. ‘When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades.’ How long do you think we have?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Leo said. “But we need to get out of here.”


	14. Chapter 14

**JASON**  
  
My eyes snapped open. “Cyclops!”  
  
“Whoa, sleepyhead.” Chrissie sat backwards in front of me on the bronze dragon, holding my waist to keep me balanced. Leo sat in front of her, driving. We flew peacefully through the winter sky as if nothing had happened.  
  
“D-Detroit,” I stammered. “Didn’t we crash-land? I thought-”  
  
“It’s okay,” Leo said. “We got away, but you got a nasty concussion. How you feeling?”  
  
My head throbbed. He remembered the factory, then walking down the catwalk, then a creature looming over him - a face with one eye, a massive fist - and everything went black.  
  
“How did you- the Cyclops-”  
  
“Leo and Chrissie ripped them apart,” Piper said from behind me. “It was amazing. Leo can summon fire-”  
  
“It was nothing,” Leo said quickly.  
  
Piper laughed. “Shut up, Valdez. I’m going to tell him. Get over it.”

And she did - how Leo had defeated the Cyclopes family, with help from Chrissie's dagger skills; how they freed me, then noticed the Cyclopes starting to re-form; how Leo had replaced the dragon’s wiring and gotten us back in the air just as they’d started to hear the Cyclopes roaring for vengeance inside the factory.  
  
I was impressed. Taking out three Cyclopes with nothing but a tool kit and a dagger? Not bad. It didn’t exactly scare me to hear how close I’d come to death, but it did make me feel horrible. I’d stepped right into an ambush and spent the whole fight knocked out while my friends fended for themselves. What kind of quest leader was I?  
  
When Chrissie told me about the other kid the Cyclopes claimed to have eaten, the one in the purple shirt who spoke Latin, I felt like my head was going to explode. A son of Mercury... I felt like I should know that kid, but the name was missing from my mind.  
  
“I’m not alone, then,” I said. “There are others like me.”  
  
“Jason,” Chrissie said gently, “you were never alone. You’ve got us.”  
  
“I-I know... but something Hera said. I was having a dream...”  
  
I told them what I'd seen, and what the goddess had said inside her cage.  
  
“An exchange?” Piper asked. “What does that mean?”  
  
I shook my head. “But Hera’s gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way-”  
  
“Or save us,” Piper said hopefully. “That bit about the sleeping enemy - that sounds like the lady Leo told us about.”  
  
Leo cleared his throat. “About that... she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge.”  
  
I wasn’t sure I’d heard that right. “Did you say... Porta-Potty?”  
  
Leo told us about the big face in the factory yard. “I don’t know if she’s completely unkillable,” he said, “but she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, ‘Pfft, right, I’m gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.’”  
  
“She’s trying to divide us.” Chrissie pondered.  
  
“Why are they toying with us?" Piper asked. "Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?”  
  
“Enceladus?” I didn’t think I’d heard that name before.  
  
“I mean...” Piper’s voice quavered. “That’s one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember.”  
  
I got the feeling there was a lot more bothering her, and when I locked eyes with Chrissie, she seemed to have the same general like of thoughts as me. I decided not to press Piper, though. She’d had a rough morning.  
  
Leo scratched his head. “Well, I dunno about Enchiladas-”  
  
“Enceladus,” Piper corrected.  
  
“Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?”  
  
“Porphyrion?” Piper asked. “He was the giant king, I think.”  
  
I envisioned that dark spire in the old reflecting pool - growing larger as Hera got weaker. “I’m going to take wild guess,” I said. “In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the gods.”  
  
“I think so,” Piper agreed. “But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It’s almost like nobody wanted that story to survive. I just remember there was a war, and the giants were almost impossible to kill.”  
  
“Heroes and gods had to work together,” I said. “That’s what Hera told me.”  
  
“Kind of hard to do,” Leo grumbled, “if the gods won’t even talk to us.”  
  
They flew west, and I became lost in his thoughts - all of them bad. I wasn’t sure how much time passed before the dragon dove through a break in the clouds, and below us, glittering in the winter sun, was a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore. Behind us, stretching out to the western horizon, was a vast grid of snow-covered neighborhoods and roads.  
  
“Chicago,” I said.  
  
I thought about what Hera had said in my dream. My worst mortal enemy would be waiting here. If I was going to die, it would be by her hand.  
  
“One problem down,” Leo said. “We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?”  
  
I saw a flash of movement below us. At first I thought it was a small plane, but it was too small, too dark and fast. The thing spiraled toward the skyscrapers, weaving and changing shape - and, just for a moment it became the smoky figure of a horse.  
  
“How about we follow that one,” I suggested, “and see where it goes?”


	15. Chapter 15

**CHRISSIE**

I was afraid we'd lose our target. The ventus moved like... well, like the wind.  
  
“Speed up!” Jason urged. I glared daggers at him.  
  
“Bro,” Leo said, “if I get any closer, he’ll spot us. Bronze dragon ain’t exactly a stealth plane.”  
  
“Slow down!” I yelped, still sat backwards in front of Jason, clutching onto his forearms for dear life.  
  
The storm spirit dove into the grid of downtown streets. Festus tried to follow, but his wingspan was way too wide. His left wing clipped the edge of a building, slicing off a stone gargoyle before Leo pulled up.  
  
“Get above the buildings,” Jason suggested. “We’ll track him from there.”

“You want to drive this thing?” Leo grumbled, but he did what Jason asked.  
  
After a few minutes, Jason spotted the storm spirit again, zipping through the streets with no apparent purpose - blowing over pedestrians, ruffling flags, making cars swerve.  
  
“Oh great,” Piper said. “There’re two.”  
  
I looked over my shoulder cautiously to see that she was right. A second ventus blasted around the corner of the Renaissance Hotel and linked up with the first. They wove together in a chaotic dance, shooting to the top of a skyscraper, bending a radio tower, and diving back down toward the street.  
  
“Those guys do not need any more caffeine,” Leo said.  
  
“I guess Chicago’s a good place to hang out,” Piper said. “Nobody’s going to question a couple more evil winds.”  
  
“More than a couple,” Jason said. “Look.”  
  
The dragon circled over a wide avenue next to a lake-side park. Storm spirits were converging - at least a dozen of them, whirling around a big public art installation.  
  
“Which one do you think is Dylan?” Leo asked. “I wanna throw something at him.”  
  
But I was focused on the art installation. The closer we got to it, the faster my heart beat. It was just a public fountain, but it was unpleasant. Two five-story monoliths rose from either end of a long granite reflecting pool. The monoliths seemed to be built of video screens, flashing the combined image of a giant face that spewed water into the pool. As we watched, the image on the screens changed to a woman’s face with her eyes closed.  
  
"Guys...” I said nervously.  
  
“I see her,” Leo said. “I don’t like her, but I see her.”  
  
Then the screens went dark. The venti swirled together into a single funnel cloud and skittered across the fountain, kicking up a waterspout almost as high as the monoliths. They got to its center, popped off a drain cover, and disappeared underground.  
  
“Did they just go down a drain?” Piper asked. “How are we supposed to follow them?”  
  
“Maybe we shouldn’t,” Leo said. “That fountain thing is giving me seriously bad vibes. And aren’t we supposed to, like, beware the earth?”  
  
I felt the same way, but I knew we had to follow. It was our only way forward. We had to find Hera, and we now had only two days until the solstice.  
  
“Put us down in that park,” Jason finally suggested. “We’ll check it out on foot.”  
  
Festus landed in an open area between the lake and the skyline. The signs said Grant Park, and I imagined it would’ve been a nice place in the summer; but now it was a field of ice, snow, and salted walkways. The dragon’s hot metal feet hissed as they touched down. Festus flapped his wings unhappily and shot fire into the sky, but there was no one around to notice. The wind coming off the lake was bitter cold. Anyone with sense would be inside. My eyes stung so badly, I could barely see.  
  
We dismounted, and Festus the dragon stomped his feet. One of his ruby eyes flickered, so it looked like he was blinking.  
  
“Is that normal?” Jason asked.  
  
Leo pulled a rubber mallet from his tool bag. He whacked the dragon’s bad eye, and the light went back to normal. “Yes,” Leo said. “Festus can’t hang around here, though, in the middle of the park. They’ll arrest him for loitering. Maybe if I had a dog whistle...”  
  
He rummaged in his tool belt, but came up with nothing.  
  
“Too specialized?” he guessed. “Okay, give me a safety whistle. They got that in lots of machine shops.”  
  
This time, Leo pulled out a big plastic orange whistle. “Coach Hedge would be jealous! Okay, Festus, listen.” Leo blew the whistle. The shrill sound probably rolled all the way across Lake Michigan. “You hear that, come find me, okay? Until then, you fly wherever you want. Just try not to barbecue any pedestrians.”  
  
The dragon snorted - hopefully in agreement. Then he spread his wings and launched into the air.  
  
Piper took one step and winced. “Ah!”  
  
“Your ankle?” I felt bad I’d forgotten about her injury back in the Cyclops factory. “That nectar we gave you might be wearing off.”  
  
“It’s fine.” She shivered, and I remembered my promise to get her a new snowboarding coat; my old jacket hung around her for the time being, but it wasn't very warm. I hoped we lived long enough to find her a better one. Piper took a few more steps with only a slight limp, but I could tell she was trying not to grimace.  
  
“Let’s get out of the wind,” I suggested, locking eyes with Jason, who nodded in agreement. A pang of nostalgia hit me; I remembered being on quests with my brother. He was the fighter, Annabeth was the smart one, I was the strategic one backing them up. It had always been that way, and I had been content.  
  
“Down a drain?” Piper's words finally broke me out of my thoughts. “Sounds cozy.”  
  
We wrapped ourselves up as best we could and headed toward the fountain.

According to the plaque, it was called Crown Fountain. All the water had emptied out except for a few patches that were starting to freeze. It didn’t seem right to me that the fountain would have water in it in the winter anyway. Then again, those big monitors had flashed the face of our mysterious enemy Dirt Woman. Nothing about this place was right.  
  
We stepped to the center of the pool. No spirits tried to stop us. The giant monitor walls stayed dark. The drain hole was easily big enough for a person, and a maintenance ladder led down into the gloom.  
  
Jason went first. As I climbed down after him, I braced myself for horrible sewer smells, but it wasn’t that bad. The ladder dropped into a brickwork tunnel running north to south. The air was warm and dry, with only a trickle of water on the floor.  
  
Piper and Leo climbed down after us.  
  
“Are all sewers this nice?” Piper wondered.  
  
“No,” Leo said. “Trust me.”

Jason frowned. “How do you know”  
  
“Hey, man, I ran away six times. I’ve slept in some weird places, okay? Now, which way do we go?”  
  
Jason tilted his head, then pointed south. “That way.”  
  
“How can you be sure?” I asked.  
  
“There’s a draft blowing south,” Jason said. “Maybe the venti went with the flow.”  
  
It wasn’t much of a lead, but nobody offered anything better.  
  
Unfortunately, as soon as we started walking, Piper stumbled. Leo and I had to catch her.  
  
“Stupid ankle,” she cursed.  
  
“Let’s rest,” I decided. “We could all use it. We’ve been going nonstop for over a day. Leo, can you pull any food from that tool belt besides breath mints?”  
  
“Thought you’d never ask. Chef Leo is on it!”  
  
Jason and I helped Piper onto a brick ledge while Leo shuffled through his pack, and then I sat down next to her, Jason on my other side. He looked deep in thought, and turned his gold coin in his fingers.  
  
“It wasn’t your fault,” I spoke up, nudging him softly.  
  
He looked at me blankly. “What?”  
  
“Getting jumped by the Cyclopes,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault.”  
  
He looked down at the coin in his palm. “I was stupid. I left Piper alone and walked into a trap. I should’ve known...”  
  
He didn’t finish. He didn't need to; the pain in his eyes said enough.

"Hey," I put my hand on his forearm. "Cut yourself some slack. You don't have to be perfect at everything and win every fight yourself just because you're a son of Zeus, you know. I'm a Big Three kid myself, and I've had to have my ass saved by others _plenty_ of times."


	16. Chapter 16

**JASON**

A few feet away, Leo lit a small cooking fire. He hummed as he pulled supplies out of his pack and his tool belt.

In the firelight, Chrissie's eyes were to more brown than usual. I liked how they were very green in regular light, but the brown circle around her pupil got more prominent sometimes.  
  
“I know this must suck for you,” I said. “I mean, your brother being missing, and then you have to go with us to save Hera instead of looking for him.”

The left corner of her mouth quirked up in a humorless smile. "Yeah, well, none of that's is your fault. I just... I miss him."

She fiddled with the little silver charm on her bracelet. I hadn't paid attention to it, but I could see now that it was a little starfish. I didn't want to push her, so I moved my gaze to Piper.

"Piper, you were going to say something about your dad, back in the factory."  
  
She traced her finger over the bricks, almost like she was writing out a scream she didn’t want to vocalize. “Was I?”  
  
“Piper,” I said, “he’s in some kind of trouble, isn’t it?”  
  
Over at the fire, Leo stirred some sizzling bell peppers and meat in a pan. “Yeah, baby! Almost there.”  
  
Piper looked on the verge of tears. “Jason... I can’t talk about it.”  
  
“We’re your friends. Let us help."  
  
Chrissie's words seemed to make it even worse. She took a shaky breath. “I wish I could, but-”  
  
“And bingo!” Leo announced.  
  
He came over with four plates stacked on his arms like a waiter. I had no idea where he’d gotten all the food, or how he’d put it together so fast, but it looked amazing: pepper and beef tacos with chips and salsa.  
  
“Leo,” Piper said in amazement. “How did you-?”  
  
“Chef Leo’s Taco Garage is fixing you up!” he said proudly. “And by the way, it’s tofu, not beef, beauty queen, so don’t freak. Just dig in!”  
  
I wasn’t sure about tofu, but the tacos tasted as good as they smelled. While we ate, Leo tried to lighten the mood and joke around. I was grateful Leo and Piper were here. It made being with Chrissie a little less intense. At the same time, I kind of wished I was alone with her; but I chided myself for feeling that way.  
  
After Piper ate, Chrissie encouraged her to get some sleep. Without another word, she curled up and put her head in Chrissie's lap. In two seconds she was snoring.  
  
Leo and I shared a glance, both of us obviously trying not to laugh.  
  
We sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking lemonade Leo had made from canteen water and powdered mix.  
  
“Good, huh?” Leo grinned.  
  
“You should start a stand,” I said. “Make some serious coin.”

But as I stared at the embers of the fire, something began to bother me. “Leo... about this fire stuff you can do... is it true?”  
  
Leo’s smile faltered. “Yeah, well...” He opened his hand. A small ball of flame burst to life, dancing across his palm.  
  
“That is so cool,” I said. “Why didn’t you say anything?”  
  
Leo closed his hand and the fire went out. “Didn’t want to look like a freak.”

"I cause and control natural disasters and talk to horses, dude," Chrissie reminded him.  
  
“I have lightning and wind powers,” I added. “Piper can turn beautiful and charm people into giving her BMWs. You’re no more a freak than we are. And, hey, maybe you can fly, too. Like jump off a building and yell, ‘Flame on!’”  
  
Leo snorted. “If I did that, you would see a flaming kid falling to his death, and I would be yelling something a little stronger than ‘Flame on!’ Trust me, Hephaestus cabin doesn’t see fire powers as cool. Nyssa told me they’re super rare. When a demigod like me comes around, bad things happen. Really bad.”  
  
“Maybe it’s the other way around,” Chrissie suggested. “Maybe people with special gifts show up when bad things are happening because that’s when they’re needed most.”  
  
Leo cleared away the plates. “Maybe. But I’m telling you... it’s not always a gift.”  
  
I fell silent. “You’re talking about your mom, aren’t you? The night she died.”  
  
Leo didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. The fact that he was quiet, not joking around - that told me enough.  
  
“Leo, her death wasn’t your fault. Whatever happened that night - it wasn’t because you could summon fire. This Dirt Woman, whoever she is, has been trying to ruin you for years, mess up your confidence, take away everything you care about. She’s trying to make you feel like a failure. You’re not. You’re important.”  
  
“That’s what she said.” Leo looked up, his eyes full of pain. “She said I was meant to do something important - something that would make or break that big prophecy about the eight demigods. That’s what scares me. I don’t know if I’m up to it.”  
  
I wanted to tell him everything would be all right, but it would’ve sounded fake. I didn’t know what would happen. We were demigods, which meant sometimes things didn’t end okay. Sometimes you got eaten by the Cyclops.  
  
If you asked most kids, “Hey, you want to summon earthquakes or fire or lightning or magical makeup?” they’d think it sounded pretty cool. But those powers went along with hard stuff, like sitting in a sewer in the middle of winter, running from monsters, losing your memory, watching your friends almost get cooked, and having dreams that warned you of your own death.  
  
Leo poked at the remnants of his fire, turning over red-hot coals with his bare hand. “You ever wonder about the other four demigods? I mean... if we’re four of the ones from the Great Prophecy, who are the others? Where are they?”  
  
I had thought about it, all right, but I tried to push it out of my mind. I had a horrible suspicion that I would be expected to lead those other demigods, and I was afraid to fail.  
  
 _You’ll tear each other apart_ , Boreas had promised.  
  
I had been trained never to show fear. I was sure of that from my dream with the wolves. I was supposed to act confident, even if I didn’t feel it. But Leo and Piper were depending on me and Chrissie, and I was terrified of failing them all. If I had to lead a group of seven - seven who might not get along - that would be even worse.  
  
“I don’t know,” I said at last. “I guess the other four will show up when the time is right. Who knows? Maybe they’re on some other quest right now.”  
  
Leo grunted. “I bet their sewer is nicer than ours.”  
  
The draft picked up, blowing toward the south end of the tunnel.  
  
“Get some rest, guys,” I said. “I’ll take first watch.”

Leo put his head on Piper's backpack and was out within a couple of minutes.

Chrissie, however, was still wide awake.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly. She looked up and sighed.

"I just miss him." She looked at her silver bracelet again brows furrowed.

"This was a present from him, you know," she spoke up after a moment of silence. "He'd saved up money for our sixteenth birthday, the day of the first Great Prophecy. We thought the last line from it would me _he'd_ die, but it turned out to be about someone else..." she trailed off. "Either way, he'd gotten this for me to have a piece of him wherever I'd go without him. And now he's actually gone..."

"Hey," I wrapped one arm around her shoulder in a side-hug. "We'll find him. And when we do, you can kick his ass for disappearing on him."

She cracked a small smile at that. "I definitely will."

"Good. Now, get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise-promise?" She asked, holding out her left pinkie. I took my right arm off of her shoulder to wrap mine around it.

"Promise-promise," I said. She smiled and laid her head on my lap, careful not to disturb Piper, who was still sleeping on hers. I put my hand on her shoulder, feeling very protective, and her breathing evened out.


	17. Chapter 17

**JASON**

It was hard to measure time, but I figured my friends slept about four hours. I didn’t mind. Now that I was resting, I didn’t really feel the need for more sleep. I’d been conked out long enough on the dragon. Plus, I needed time to think about the quest, his sister Thalia, and Hera’s warnings. I also didn’t mind Chrissie leaning on me. The way her worries seemed to melt away as she slept amazed me. Her face turned so peaceful, I was almost disappointed when she woke up.  
  
Finally we broke camp and started down the tunnel.  
  
It twisted and turned and seemed to go on forever. I wasn’t sure what to expect at the end - a dungeon, a mad scientist’s lab, or maybe a sewer reservoir where all Porta-Potty sludge ends up, forming an evil toilet face large enough to swallow the world.  
  
Instead, we found polished steel elevator doors, each one engraved with a cursive letter M. Next to the elevator was a directory, like for a department store.  
  
“M for Macy’s?” Piper guessed. “I think they have one in downtown Chicago.”  
  
“Or Monocle Motors still?” Leo said. “Guys, read the directory. It’s messed up.”  
  
 _Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance: Sewer Level_  
  
 _Furnishings and Café M: 1_  
  
 _Women’s Fashion and Magical Appliances: 2_  
  
 _Men’s Wear and Weaponry: 3_  
  
 _Cosmetics, Potions, Poisons & Sundries: 4_  
  
“Kennels for what?” Piper said. “And what kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?”

“Or sells poisons,” Leo said. “Man, what does ‘sundries’ even mean? Is that like underwear?”  
  
I exchanged a look with Chrissie, who shrugged and quirked a single brow. I interpreted it as 'your call', so I took a deep breath. “When in doubt, start at the top.”  
  
* * *  
  
The doors slid open on the fourth floor, and the scent of perfume wafted into the elevator. I stepped out first, sword ready.  
  
“Guys,” I said. “You’ve got to see this.”  
  
Piper joined me and caught her breath. “This is not Macy’s.”  
  
The department store looked like the inside of a kaleidoscope. The entire ceiling was a stained glass mosaic with astrological signs around a giant sun. The daylight streaming through it washed everything in a thousand different colors. The upper floors made a ring of balconies around a huge central atrium, so we could see all the way down to the ground floor. Gold railings glittered so brightly, they were hard to look at.  
  
Aside from the stained glass ceiling and the elevator, I couldn’t see any other windows or doors, but two sets of glass escalators ran between the levels. The carpeting was a riot of oriental patterns and colors, and the racks of merchandise were just as bizarre. There was too much to take it at once, but I saw normal stuff like shirt racks and shoe trees mixed in with armored manikins, beds of nails, and fur coats that seemed to be moving.  
  
Leo stepped to the railing and looked down. “Check it out.”  
  
In the middle of the atrium a fountain sprayed water twenty feet into the air, changing color from red to yellow to blue. The pool glittered with gold coins, and on either side of the fountain stood a gilded cage—like an oversize canary cage.  
  
Inside one, a miniature hurricane swirled, and lightning flashed. Somebody had imprisoned the storm spirits, and the cage shuddered as they tried to get out. In the other, frozen like a statue, was a short, buff satyr, holding a tree-branch club.  
  
“Coach Hedge!” Piper said. “We’ve got to get down there.”  
  
A voice said, “May I help you find something?”  
  
All four of us jumped back.  
  
A woman had just appeared in front of us. She wore an elegant black dress with diamond jewelry, and she looked like a retired fashion model - maybe fifty years old, though it was hard for me to judge. Her long dark hair swept over one shoulder, and her face was gorgeous in that surreal super-model way - thin and haughty and cold, not quite human. With their long red-painted nails, her fingers looked more like talons.  
  
She smiled. “I’m so happy to see new customers. How may I help you?”  
  
Leo glanced at me like, _All yours._  
  
“Um,” I started, “is this your store?”  
  
The woman nodded. “I found it abandoned, you know. I understand so many stores are, these days. I decided it would make the perfect place. I love collecting tasteful objects, helping people, and offering quality goods at a reasonable price. So this seemed a good... how do you say... first acquisition in this country.”  
  
She spoke with a pleasing accent, but I couldn’t guess where from. Clearly she wasn’t hostile, though. I started to relax. Her voice was rich and exotic. I wanted to hear more.  
  
“So you’re new to America?” Jason asked.  
  
“I am... new,” the woman agreed. “I am the Princess of Colchis. My friends call me Your Highness. Now, what are you looking for?”  
  
I had heard of rich foreigners buying American department stores. Of course most of the time they didn’t sell poisons, living fur coats, storm spirits, or satyrs, but still - with a nice voice like that, the Princess of Colchis couldn’t be all bad.  
  
Chrissie poked me in the ribs. “Dude...”  
  
“Um, right. Actually, Your Highness...” I pointed to the gilded cage on the first floor. “That’s our friend down there, Gleeson Hedge. The satyr. Could we... have him back, please?”  
  
“Of course!” the princess agreed immediately. “I would love to show you my inventory. First, may I know your names?”  
  
I hesitated. It seemed like a bad idea to give out our names. A memory tugged at the back of my mind - something Hera had warned him about, but it seemed fuzzy.  
  
On the other hand, Her Highness was on the verge of cooperating. If we could get what they wanted without a fight, that would be better. Besides, this lady didn’t seem like an enemy.  
  
Piper started to say, “Uh, I wouldn’t-”  
  
“This is Piper,” I said. “That's Chrissie and Leo. I’m Jason.”  
  
The princess fixed her eyes on me and, just for a moment, her face literally glowed, blazing with so much anger, I could see her skull beneath her skin. My mind was getting blurrier, but I knew something didn’t seem right. Then the moment passed, and Her Highness looked like a normal elegant woman again, with a cordial smile and a soothing voice.  
  
“Jason. What an interesting name,” she said, her eyes as cold as the Chicago wind. “I think we’ll have to make a special deal for you. Come, children. Let’s go shopping.”


	18. Chapter 18

**CHRISSIE**

I wanted to run for the elevator.  
  
My second choice: attack the weird princess now, because I was sure a fight was coming. The way the lady’s face glowed when she’d heard Jason’s name had been bad enough. Now Her Highness was smiling like nothing had happened, and the boys didn’t seem to think anything was wrong.  
  
The princess gestured toward the cosmetics counter. “Shall we start with the potions?”  
  
“Cool,” Jason said.  
  
“Guys,” Piper interrupted, “we’re here to get the storm spirits and Coach Hedge. If this- princess- is really our friend-”

“Oh, I’m better than a friend, my dear,” Her Highness said. “I’m a saleswoman.” Her diamonds sparkled, and her eyes glittered like a snake’s - cold and dark. “Don’t worry. We’ll work our way down to the first floor, eh?”  
  
Leo nodded eagerly. “Sure, yeah! That sounds okay. Right, girls?”  
  
I did my best to stare daggers at him: _No, it is not okay!_  
  
“Of course it’s okay.” Her Highness put her hands on Leo’s and Jason’s shoulders and steered them toward the cosmetics. “Come along, boys.”  
  
Piper and I didn’t have much choice except to follow. I caught her eye as we walked, and shot her a 'what the Hades is happening'-look. She shrugged, looking just as confused as I felt.  
  
“And here,” the princess said, “is the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere.”  
  
The counter was crammed with bubbling beakers and smoking vials on tripods. Lining the display shelves were crystal flasks - some shaped like swans or honey bear dispensers. The liquids inside were every color, from glowing white to polka-dotted. And the smells - _ugh_! Some were pleasant, like fresh-baked cookies or roses, but they were mixed with the scents of burning tires, skunk spray, and gym lockers.  
  
The princess pointed to a bloodred vial - a simple test tube with a cork stopper. “This one will heal any disease.”  
  
“Even cancer?” Leo asked. “Leprosy? Hangnails?”  
  
“Any disease, sweet boy. And this vial” - She pointed to a swan-shaped container with blue liquid inside - “will kill you very painfully.”  
  
“Awesome,” Jason said. His voice sounded dazed and sleepy.  
  
“Jason,” Piper said. “We've got a job to do. Remember?”  
  
“Job to do,” Jason muttered. “Sure. But shopping first, okay?”  
  
The princess beamed at him. “Then we have potions for resisting fire-”  
  
“Got that covered,” Leo said.  
  
“Indeed?” The princess studied Leo’s face more closely. “You don’t appear to be wearing my trademark sunscreen... but no matter. We also have potions that cause blindness, insanity, sleep, or-”  
  
“Wait.” I was still staring at the red vial. “The healing potion, does it have the power to retain lost memories?”  
  
The princess narrowed her eyes. “Possibly. Yes. Quite possibly. Why, my dear? Have you forgotten something important?”  
  
I kept my poker-face on, but my mind was running 600mph. If this vial was what it takes to cure Jason... I shot Piper a look; charmspeak-y stuff was her department.  
  
“How much?” she asked.  
  
The princess got a faraway look in her eyes. “Well, now... The price is always tricky. I love helping people. Honestly, I do. And I always keep my bargains, but sometimes people try to cheat me.” Her gaze drifted to Jason. “Once, for instance, I met a handsome young man who wanted a treasure from my father’s kingdom. We made a bargain, and I promised to help him steal it.”  
  
“From your own dad?” Jason still looked half in a trance, but the idea seemed to bother him.  
  
“Oh, don’t worry,” the princess said. “I demanded a high price. The young man had to take me away with him. He was quite good-looking, dashing, strong...” She looked at me. “I’m sure, my dear, you understand how one might be attracted to such a hero, and want to help him.”  
  
Piper shot me a shocked look, and I probably blushed. I got the creepiest feeling the princess could read my inner battle between helping Jason and prioritizing Percy.  
  
I also found the princess’s story disturbingly familiar. Pieces of old myths Annabeth had once told me started coming together, but this woman couldn’t be the one I was thinking of.  
  
“At any rate,” Her Highness continued, “my hero had to do many impossible tasks, and I’m not bragging when I say he couldn’t have done them without me. I betrayed my own family to win the hero his prize. And still he cheated me of my payment.”  
  
“Cheated?” Jason frowned, as if trying to remember something important.  
  
“That’s messed up,” Leo said.  
  
Her Highness patted his cheek affectionately. “I’m sure you don’t need to worry, Leo. You seem honest. You would always pay a fair price, wouldn’t you?”  
  
Leo nodded. “What were we buying again? I’ll take two.”

Piper broke in: “So, the vial, Your Highness - how much?”  
  
The princess assessed Piper’s clothes, her face, her posture, as if putting a price tag on one slightly used demigod.  
  
“Would you give anything for it, my dear?” the princess asked, her eyes flicking over to me. “I sense that you would.”  
  
The words washed over me as powerfully as a good surfing wave. The force of the suggestion nearly lifted me off her feet. I wanted to pay any price. I wanted to say yes. But, just as with any charmspeak, I found myself being able to choose whether I was affected by it. I'd never known how it worked, but I suspected it was because, just as with other charmspeaking Aphrodite kid, the source of controlling my powers was through my emotions.

I summoned all my willpower. “No, I won’t pay any price. But a fair price, maybe."

Her Highness scowled at me, but we weren't through, as Piper spoke up next. "After that, we need to leave. Right, guys?”  
  
Just for a moment, her words seemed to have some effect. The boys looked confused.  
  
“Leave?” Jason said.  
  
“You mean... after shopping?” Leo asked.  
  
I wanted to scream, but the princess tilted her head, examining us with newfound respect.  
  
“Impressive,” the princess said. “Not many people could resist my suggestions. You're obviously an earthshaker, but you... are you a child of Aphrodite, my dear? Ah, yes - I should have seen it. No matter. Perhaps we should shop a while longer before you decide what to buy, eh?”  
  
“But the vial-”  
  
“Now, boys.” She turned to Jason and Leo. Her voice was so much more powerful than Piper’s, so full of confidence, we didn’t stand a chance. “Would you like to see more?”  
  
“Sure,” Jason said.  
  
“Okay,” Leo said.  
  
“Excellent,” the princess said. “You’ll need all the help you can get if you’re to make it to the Bay Area.”  
  
Piper’s hand moved to her dagger.  
  
“The Bay Area?” she said. “Why the Bay Area?”  
  
The princess smiled. “Well, that’s where they’ll die, isn’t it?”  
  
Then she led them toward the escalators, Jason and Leo still looking excited to shop.


	19. Chapter 19

**PIPER**

I cornered the princess as Chrissie chaperoned the boys checking out the living fur coats.  
  
“You want them shopping for their deaths?” I demanded.  
  
“Mmm.” The princess blew dust off a display case of swords. “I’m a seer, my dear. I know your little secret. But we don’t want to dwell on that, do we? The boys are having such fun.”  
  
Leo laughed as he tried on a hat that seemed to be made from enchanted raccoon fur. Its ringed tail twitched, and its little legs wiggled frantically as Leo walked. Jason was ogling the men’s sportswear. Boys interested in shopping for clothes? A definite sign they were under an evil spell. Chrissie was even trying to talk to Jason, but as much as I suspected he liked her, it looked like she was talking to a brick wall.  
  
I glared at the princess. “Who are you?”  
  
“I told you, my dear. I’m the Princess of Colchis.”  
  
“Where’s Colchis?”  
  
The princess’s expression turned a little sad. “Where was Colchis, you mean. My father ruled the far shores of the Black Sea, as far to the east as a Greek ship could sail in those days. But Colchis is no more - lost eons ago.”  
  
“Eons?” I asked. The princess looked no more than fifty, but a bad feeling started settling over me - something King Boreas had mentioned back in Quebec. “How old are you?”  
  
The princess laughed. “A lady should avoid asking or answering that question. Let’s just say the, ah, immigration process to enter your country took quite a while. My patron finally brought me through. She made all this possible.” The princess swept her hand around the department store.  
  
My mouth tasted like metal. “Your patron...”  
  
“Oh, yes. She doesn’t bring just anyone through, mind you - only those who have special talents, such as me. And really, she insists on so little - a store entrance that must be underground so she can, ah, monitor my clientele; and a favor now and then. In exchange for a new life? Really, it was the best bargain I’d made in centuries.”  
  
 _Run_ , I thought. _We have to get out of here._  
  
But before I could even turn my thoughts into words, Jason called, “Hey, check it out!”  
  
From a rack labeled distressed clothing, he held up a purple T-shirt like the one he’d worn on the school field trip - except this shirt looked as if it had been clawed by tigers.  
  
Jason frowned. “Why does this look so familiar?”  
  
“Jason, it’s like yours,” I said. “Now we really have to leave.” But I wasn’t sure he could even hear me or Chrissie anymore through the princess’s enchantment.  
  
“Nonsense,” the princess said. “The boys aren’t done, are they? And yes, my dear. Those shirts are very popular - trade-ins from previous customers. It suits you.”  
  
Leo picked up an orange Camp Half-Blood tee with a hole through the middle, as if it had been hit by a javelin. Next to that was a dented bronze breastplate pitted with corrosion - acid, maybe? - and a Roman toga slashed to pieces and stained with something that looked disturbingly like dried blood.

Chrissie let out a mangled gasp as she caught sight of the breastplate, and I knew then and there it'd been someone she knew.

“Your Highness,” I said, trying to control her nerves. “Why don’t you tell the boys how you betrayed your family? I’m sure they’d like to hear that story.”  
  
My words didn’t have any effect on the princess, but the boys turned, suddenly interested.  
  
“More story?” Leo asked.  
  
“I like more story!” Jason agreed.  
  
The princess flashed me an irritated look. “Oh, one will do strange things for love, Piper. You should know that. I fell for that young hero, in fact, because your mother Aphrodite had me under a spell. If it wasn’t for her - but I can’t hold a grudge against a goddess, can I?”  
  
The princess’s tone made her meaning clear: _I can take it out on you._  
  
“But that hero took you with him when he fled Colchis,” I remembered. “Didn’t he, Your Highness? He married you just as he promised.”  
  
The look in the princess’s eyes made me want to apologize, but I didn’t back down.  
  
“At first,” Her Highness admitted, “it seemed he would keep his word. But even after I helped him steal my father’s treasure, he still needed my help. As we fled, my brother’s fleet came after us. His warships overtook us. He would have destroyed us, but I convinced my brother to come aboard our ship first and talk under a flag of truce. He trusted me.”  
  
“And you _murdered_ your own brother,” Chrissie spat, tears threatening to spill as she looked away from the corroded armour.  
  
“What?” Jason stirred. For a moment he looked almost like himself. “Killed your own-”  
  
“No,” the princess snapped. “Those stories are lies. It was my new husband and his men who killed my brother, though they couldn’t have done it without my deception. They threw his body into the sea, and the pursuing fleet had to stop and search for it so they could give my brother a proper burial. This gave us time to get away. All this, I did for my husband. And he forgot our bargain. He betrayed me in the end.”  
  
Jason still looked uncomfortable. “What did he do?”  
  
The princess held the sliced-up toga against Jason’s chest, as if measuring him for an assassination. “Don’t you know the story, my boy? You of all people should. You were named for him.”  
  
“Jason,” I said. “The original Jason. But then you’re - you should be dead!”  
  
The princess smiled. “As I said, a new life in a new country. Certainly I made mistakes. I turned my back on my own people. I was called a traitor, a thief, a liar, a murderess. But I acted out of love.” She turned to the boys and gave them a pitiful look, batting her eyelashes. I could feel the sorcery washing over them, taking control more firmly than ever.  
  
“Wouldn’t you do the same for someone you loved, my dears?”  
  
“Oh, sure,” Jason said, glancing at Chrissie.  
  
“Okay,” Leo said.  
  
“Guys!” I ground my teeth in frustration. “Don’t you see who she is? Don’t you-”  
  
“Let’s continue, shall we?” the princess said breezily. “I believe you wanted to talk about a price for the storm spirits - and your satyr.”  
  
Leo got distracted on the second floor with the appliances.  
  
“No way,” he said. “Is that an armored forge?”  
  
Before I could stop him, he hopped off the escalator and ran over to a big oval oven that looked like a barbecue on steroids.  
  
When they caught up with him, the princess said, “You have good taste. This is the H-2000, designed by Hephaestus himself. Hot enough to melt Celestial bronze or Imperial gold.”  
  
Jason flinched as if he recognized that term. “Imperial gold?”  
  
The princess nodded. “Yes, my dear. Like that weapon so cleverly concealed in your pocket. To be properly forged, Imperial gold had to be consecrated in the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill in Rome. Quite a powerful and rare metal, but like the Roman emperors, quite volatile. Be sure never to break that blade...” She smiled pleasantly. “Rome was after my time, of course, but I do hear stories. And now over here - this golden throne is one of my finest luxury items. Hephaestus made it as a punishment for his mother, Hera. Sit in it and you’ll be immediately trapped.”  
  
Leo apparently took this as an order. He began walking toward it in a trance.  
  
“Leo, don’t!” I warned.  
  
He blinked. “How much for both?”  
  
“Oh, the seat I could let you have for five great deeds. The forge, seven years of servitude. And for only a bit of your strength—” She led Leo into the appliance section, giving him prices on various items.  
  
Chrissie followed them, so I went to try reasoning with Jason. I pulled him aside and slapped him across the face.

“Ow,” he muttered sleepily. “What was that for?”  
  
“Snap out of it!” I hissed.  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“She’s charmspeaking you. Can’t you feel it?”  
  
He knit his eyebrows. “She seems okay.”  
  
“She’s not okay! She shouldn’t even be alive! She was married to Jason - the other Jason - three thousand years ago. Remember what Boreas said - something about the souls no longer being confined to Hades? It’s not just monsters who can’t stay dead. She’s come back from the Underworld!”  
  
Jason shook his head uneasily. “She’s not a ghost.”  
  
“No, she’s worse! She’s-”  
  
“Children.” The princess was back with Leo in tow, and I couldn't see Chrissie anywhere. “If you please, we will now see what you came for. That is what you want, yes?”


	20. Chapter 20

**CHRISSIE**

“Ahhhggggggh!”

I was fully startled - one second, I'm yelling at Medea for taking Silena's armour, the next, I'm in a golden room, with Gleeson Hedge charging out of the same cage I was in.

Jason leaped to his feet, and Piper's head snapped up.  
  
“Coach is awake,” Leo said, which was kind of unnecessary. He was capering around on his furry hindquarters, swinging his club and yelling, “Die!” as he smashed the tea set, whacked the sofas, and charged at the throne.  
  
“Coach!” Jason yelled.  
  
Hedge turned, breathing hard. He collected himself for a second, and I took the opportunity to climb out of the cage, Leo carefully helping me stand.  
  
“You’re the new kid,” Hedge said, lowering his club. “Jason.” He looked at Piper, whose hair looked like it had become a nest for a friendly hamster, then Leo, and me last.  
  
“McLean, Valdez... Jackson?” the coach said. “What’s going on? We were at the Grand Canyon. The anemoi thuellai were attacking and-” He zeroed in on the storm spirit cage, and his eyes went back to DEFCON 1. “Die!”  
  
“Whoa, Coach!” Leo stepped in his path, which was pretty brave, even though Hedge was six inches shorter. “It’s okay. They’re locked up. We just sprang you and Chrissie from the other cage.”  
  
“Cage? Cage? What’s going on? Just because I’m a satyr doesn’t mean I can’t have you doing plank push-ups, Valdez!”  
  
Jason cleared his throat. “Coach- Gleeson- um, whatever you want us to call you. You saved us at the Grand Canyon. You were totally brave.”  
  
“Of course I was!”  
  
“The extraction team, including Chrissie came and took us to Camp Half-Blood. We thought we’d lost you. Then we got word the storm spirits had taken you back to their- um, operator, Medea.”

“That witch! Wait—that’s impossible. She’s mortal. She’s dead.”  
  
“Yeah, well,” Leo said, “somehow she got not dead anymore.”  
  
Hedge nodded, his eyes narrowing. “So! You were sent on a dangerous quest to rescue me. Excellent!”  
  
“Um.” Piper got to her feet, holding out her hands so Coach Hedge wouldn’t attack her. “Actually, Glee- can I still call you Coach Hedge? Gleeson seems wrong. We’re on a quest for something else. We kind of found you by accident.”  
  
“Oh.” The coach’s spirits seemed to deflate, but only for a second. Then his eyes lit up again. “But there are no accidents! Not on quests. This was meant to happen! So, this is the witch’s lair, eh? Why is everything gold?”  
  
“Gold?” Jason looked around. From the way Leo and Piper caught their breath, I guessed they hadn’t noticed yet either.  
  
The room was full of gold - the statues, the tea set Hedge had smashed, a chair that looked like it was supposed to be a throne. Even the curtains appeared to be woven of gold fiber.  
  
“Nice,” Leo said. “No wonder they got so much security.”  
  
“This isn’t-” Piper stammered. “This isn’t Medea’s place, Coach. It’s some rich person’s mansion in Omaha. We got away from Medea, though Chrissie somehow was put in the cage with you... and we kinda just crash-landed here.”  
  
“It’s destiny, cupcakes!” Hedge insisted. “I’m meant to protect you. What’s the quest?”  
  
Before any of us could explain, a door opened at the far end of the room.  
  
A pudgy man in a white bathrobe stepped out with a golden toothbrush in his mouth. He had a white beard and one of those long, old-fashioned sleeping caps pressed down over his white hair. He froze when he saw us, and the toothbrush fell out of his mouth.  
  
He glanced into the room behind him and called, “Son? Lit, come out here, please. There are strange people in the throne room.”  
  
Coach Hedge did the obvious thing. He raised his club and shouted, “Die!”  
  
It took all of the others to hold back the satyr. “Whoa, Coach!” Jason said. “Bring it down a few notches.” A younger man charged into the room. I guessed he must be Lit, the old guy’s son. He was dressed in pajama pants with a sleeveless T-shirt that said cornhuskers, and he held a sword that looked like it could husk a lot of things besides corn. His ripped arms were covered in scars, and his face, framed by curly dark hair, would’ve been handsome if it wasn’t also sliced up.  
  
Lit immediately zeroed in on Jason like he was the biggest threat, and stalked toward him, swinging his sword overhead. I was kind of offended, to be honest, but Piper shook me out of it.

“Hold on!” she stepped forward, trying for her best calming voice. “This is just a misunderstanding! Everything’s fine.” Lit stopped in his tracks, but he still looked wary. It didn’t help that Hedge was screaming, “I’ll get them! Don’t worry!”  
  
“Coach,” Jason pleaded, “they may be friendly. Besides, we’re trespassing in their house.”  
  
“Thank you!” said the old man in the bathrobe. “Now, who are you, and why are you here?”  
  
“Let’s all put our weapons down,” Piper said. “Coach, you first.”  
  
Hedge clenched his jaw. “Just one thwack?”  
  
“No,” Piper said.  
  
“What about a compromise? I’ll kill them first, and if it turns out they were friendly, I’ll apologize.”  
  
“No!” I snapped.  
  
“Meh.” Coach Hedge lowered his club.  
  
Piper gave Lit a friendly sorry-about-that smile. Even with her hair messed up and wearing two-day-old clothes, she looked extremely cute, and I rolled my eyes. Don't get me wrong, Piper's my friend and all, but it wasn't fair - my hair was more out of my braid than in it at this point, and I don't even want to know the state of my eyeliner.  
  
Lit huffed and sheathed his sword. “You speak well, girl - fortunately for your friends, or I would’ve run them through.”  
  
“Appreciate it,” Leo said. “I try not to get run through before lunchtime.”  
  
The old man in the bathrobe sighed, kicking the teapot that Coach Hedge had smashed. “Well, since you’re here. Please, sit down.”  
  
Lit frowned. “Your Majesty-”  
  
“No, no, it’s fine, Lit,” the old man said. “New land, new customs. They may sit in my presence. After all, they’ve seen me in my nightclothes. No sense observing formalities.” He did his best to smile, though it looked a little forced. “Welcome to my humble home. I am King Midas.”  
  
“Midas? Impossible,” said Coach Hedge. “He died.”  
  
They were sitting on the sofas now, while the king reclined on his throne. Tricky to do that in a bathrobe, and I kept worrying the old guy would forget and uncross his legs. Hopefully he was wearing golden boxers under there.  
  
Lit stood behind the throne, both hands on his sword, glancing at me and Piper and flexing his muscular arms just to be annoying. I tried to refrain from rolling my eyes into the next dimension.  
  
Piper sat forward. “What our satyr friend means, Your Majesty, is that you’re the second mortal we’ve met who should be - sorry - dead. King Midas lived thousands of years ago.”  
  
“Interesting.” The king gazed out the windows at the brilliant blue skies and the winter sunlight. In the distance, downtown Omaha looked like a cluster of children’s blocks - way too clean and small for a regular city.  
  
“You know,” the king said, “I think I was a bit dead for a while. It’s strange. Seems like a dream, doesn’t it, Lit?”

“A very long dream, Your Majesty.”  
  
“And yet, now we’re here. I’m enjoying myself very much. I like being alive better.”  
  
“But how?” Piper asked. “You didn’t happen to have a... patron?”  
  
Midas hesitated, but there was a sly twinkle in his eyes. “Does it matter, my dear?”  
  
“We could kill them again,” Hedge suggested.  
  
“Coach, not helping,” Jason said. “Why don’t you go outside and stand guard?”  
  
Leo coughed. “Is that safe? They’ve got some serious security.”  
  
“Oh, yes,” the king said. “Sorry about that. But it’s lovely stuff, isn’t it? Amazing what gold can still buy. Such excellent toys you have in this country!”  
  
He fished a remote control out of his bathrobe pocket and pressed a few buttons - a pass code, I guessed.  
  
“There,” Midas said. “Safe to go out now.”  
  
Coach Hedge grunted. “Fine. But if you need me...” He winked at me meaningfully. Then he pointed at himself, pointed two fingers at their hosts, and sliced a finger across his throat. Very subtle sign language.  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” I said.  
  
After the satyr left, Piper tried another diplomatic smile. “So... you don’t know how you got here?”  
  
“Oh, well, yes. Sort of,” the king said. He frowned at Lit. “Why did we pick Omaha, again? I know it wasn’t the weather.”  
  
“The oracle,” Lit said.  
  
“Yes! I was told there was an oracle in Omaha.” The king shrugged. “Apparently I was mistaken. But this is a rather nice house, isn’t it? Lit - it’s short for Lityerses, by the way - horrible name, but his mother insisted - Lit has plenty of wide-open space to practice his swordplay. He has quite a reputation for that. They called him the Reaper of Men back in the old days.”  
  
“Oh.” Piper tried to sound enthusiastic. “How nice.”  
  
Lit’s smile was more of a cruel sneer.  
  
“So,” Jason said. “All this gold-”  
  
The king’s eyes lit up. “Are you here for gold, my boy? Please, take a brochure!”  
  
Jason looked at the brochures on the coffee table. I glanced over and saw that the title said _GOLD: Invest for Eternity_.

“Um, you sell gold?” Jason asked, and I suppressed a grin at the question.  
  
“No, no,” the king said. “I make it. In uncertain times like these, gold is the wisest investment, don’t you think? Governments fall. The dead rise. Giants attack Olympus. But gold retains its value!”  
  
Leo frowned. “I’ve seen that commercial.”  
  
“Oh, don’t be fooled by cheap imitators!” the king said. “I assure you, I can beat any price for a serious investor. I can make a wide assortment of gold items at a moment’s notice.”  
  
“But...” Piper shook her head in confusion. “Your Majesty, you gave up the golden touch, didn’t you?”  
  
The king looked astonished. “Gave it up?”  
  
“Yes,” Piper said. “You got it from some god-”  
  
“Dionysus,” the king agreed. “I’d rescued one of his satyrs, and in return, the god granted me one wish. I chose the golden touch.”  
  
“But you accidentally turned your own daughter to gold,” Piper remembered. “And you realized how greedy you’d been. So you repented.”  
  
“Repented!” King Midas looked at Lit incredulously. “You see, son? You’re away for a few thousand years, and the story gets twisted all around. My dear girl, did those stories ever say I’d lost my magic touch?”  
  
“Well, I guess not. They just said you learned how to reverse it with running water, and you brought your daughter back to life.”  
  
“That’s all true. Sometimes I still have to reverse my touch. There’s no running water in the house because I don’t want accidents” - he gestured to his statues - “but we chose to live next to a river just in case. Occasionally, I’ll forget and pat Lit on the back-”  
  
Lit retreated a few steps. “I hate that.”  
  
“I told you I was sorry, son. At any rate, gold is wonderful. Why would I give it up?”  
  
“Well...” Piper looked truly lost now. “Isn’t that the point of the story? That you learned your lesson?”  
  
Midas laughed. “My dear, may I see your backpack for a moment? Toss it here.”  
  
Piper hesitated, but we weren't eager to offend the king. She dumped everything out of the pack and tossed it to Midas. As soon as he caught it, the pack turned to gold, like frost spreading across the fabric. It still looked flexible and soft, but definitely gold. The king tossed it back.  
  
“As you see, I can still turn anything to gold,” Midas said. “That pack is magic now, as well. Go ahead—put your little storm spirit enemies in there.”

“Seriously?” Leo was suddenly interested. He took the bag from Piper and held it up to the cage. As soon as he unzipped the backpack, the winds stirred and howled in protest. The cage bars shuddered. The door of the prison flew open and the winds got vacuumed straight into the pack. Leo zipped it shut and grinned. “Gotta admit. That’s cool.”  
  
“You see?” Midas said. “My golden touch a curse? Please. I didn’t learn any lesson, and life isn’t a story, girl. Honestly, my daughter Zoe was much more pleasant as a gold statue.”  
  
“She talked a lot,” Lit offered.  
  
“Exactly! And so I turned her back to gold.” Midas pointed. There in the corner was a golden statue of a girl with a shocked expression, as if she were thinking, _Dad_!  
  
“That’s horrible!” Piper said.  
  
“Nonsense. She doesn’t mind. Besides, if I’d learned my lesson, would I have gotten these?”  
  
Midas pulled off his oversize sleeping cap, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or get sick. Midas had long fuzzy gray ears sticking up from his white hair—like Bugs Bunny’s, but they weren’t rabbit ears. They were donkey ears.  
  
“Oh, wow,” Leo said. “I didn’t need to see that.”  
  
“Terrible, isn’t it?” Midas sighed. “A few years after the golden touch incident, I judged a music contest between Apollo and Pan, and I declared Pan the winner. Apollo, sore loser, said I must have the ears of an ass, and voilà. This was my reward for being truthful. I tried to keep them a secret. Only my barber knew, but he couldn’t help blabbing.” Midas pointed out another golden statue - a bald man in a toga, holding a pair of shears. “That’s him. He won’t be telling anyone’s secrets again.”  
  
The king smiled. Suddenly he didn’t strike me as a harmless old man in a bathrobe. His eyes had a merry glow to them - the look of a madman who knew he was mad, accepted his madness, and enjoyed it. “Yes, gold has many uses. I think that must be why I was brought back, eh Lit? To bankroll our patron.”  
  
Lit nodded. “That and my good sword arm.”  
  
I glanced at my friends. Suddenly the air in the room seemed much colder.  
  
“So you do have a patron,” Jason said. “You work for the giants.”  
  
King Midas waved his hand dismissively. “Well, I don’t care for giants myself, of course. But even supernatural armies need to get paid. I do owe my patron a great debt. I tried to explain that to the last group that came through, but they were very unfriendly. Wouldn’t cooperate at all.”  
  
Jason looked startled. “The last group?”  
  
“Hunters,” Lit snarled. “Blasted girls from Artemis.”  
  
Jason straightened, and I caught a whiff of electrical fire like he’d just melted some of the springs in the sofa.  
  
His sister had been here.  
  
“When?” he demanded. “What happened?”  
  
Lit shrugged. “Few days ago? I didn’t get to kill them, unfortunately. They were looking for some evil wolves, or something. Said they were following a trail, heading west. Missing demigod - I don’t recall.”  
  
Percy, I thought gratefully.  
  
Midas scratched his donkey ears. “Very unpleasant young ladies, those Hunters,” he recalled. “They absolutely refused to be turned into gold. Much of the security system outside I installed to keep that sort of thing from happening again, you know. I don’t have time for those who aren’t serious investors.”  
  
Jason stood warily and glanced at us. We got the message.  
  
“Well,” Piper said, managing a smile. “It’s been a great visit. Welcome back to life. Thanks for the gold bag.”  
  
“Oh, but you can’t leave!” Midas said. “I know you’re not serious investors, but that’s all right! I have to rebuild my collection.”  
  
Lit was smiling cruelly. The king rose, and we moved away from him.  
  
“Don’t worry,” the king assured them. “You don’t have to be turned to gold. I give all my guests a choice - join my collection, or die at the hands of Lityerses. Really, it’s good either way.”  
  
Piper tried to use her charmspeak. “Your Majesty, you can’t-”  
  
Quicker than any old man should’ve been able to move, Midas lashed out and grabbed her wrist.  
  
“No!” I yelled, but apparently, I was next..


	21. Chapter 21

**CHRISSIE**

I woke up shivering.

"Gods, he got to me too, didn't he?"

Jason leaned over and rucked a warm blanket around me, but I still felt Boread-ly cold.

"Yeah, Leo as well. You're okay now, though." I nodded, even though I felt fully useless. I'd been captured at Medea's, and turned to gold by Midas. I had no idea where we were, but we were in a shallow cave, with a snowstorm blowing in, fought off weakly by a campfire.

I was interrupted from my brain of thought by Piper waking up.

“Oh, god.” Her teeth chattered. “He turned me to gold!”  
  
“You’re back, you're okay.” I put my hand on her arm to calm her.

“L-L-Leo?” she managed.  
  
“Present and un-gold-ified.” Leo was also wrapped in blankets. He didn’t look great, but better than I felt. “I got the precious metal treatment too,” he said, slinging his arm around Piper. “But I came out of it faster. Dunno why. We had to dunk you girls in the river to get you back completely. Tried to dry you off, but... it’s really, really cold.”  
  
“You’ve both got hypothermia,” Jason said. “We risked as much nectar as we could. Coach Hedge did a little nature magic-”  
  
“Sports medicine.” The coach’s ugly face loomed over her. “Kind of a hobby of mine. Your breath might smell like wild mushrooms and Gatorade for a few days, but it’ll pass. You probably won’t die. Probably.”  
  
“Thanks,” Piper said weakly. “How did you beat Midas?”  
  
Jason told us the story, putting most of it down to luck.  
  
The coach snorted. “Kid’s being modest. You should’ve seen him. Hi-yah! Slice! Boom with the lightning!”  
  
“Coach, you didn’t even see it,” Jason said. “You were outside eating the lawn.”  
  
But the satyr was just warming up. “Then I came in with my club, and we dominated that room. Afterward, I told him, ‘Kid, I’m proud of you! If you could just work on your upper body strength-’”  
  
“Coach,” said Jason.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Shut up, please.”  
  
“Sure.” The coach sat down at the fire and started chewing his cudgel.  
  
Jason put his hand on my forehead and checked her temperature. “Leo, can you stoke the fire?”  
  
“On it.” Leo summoned a baseball-sized clump of flames and lobbed it into the campfire.  
  
“I'm gathering that I look terrible?"  
  
“Nah,” Jason said.  
  
“You’re a shitty liar,” I said, managing a small grin. “Where are we?”  
  
“Pikes Peak,” Jason said. “Colorado.”  
  
“But that’s, what - five hundred miles from Omaha?”  
  
“Something like that,” Jason agreed. “I harnessed the storm spirits to bring us this far. They didn’t like it - went a little faster than I wanted, almost crashed us into the mountainside before I could get them back in the bag. I’m not going to be trying that again.”  
  
“Why are we here?” Piper broke in.  
  
Leo sniffed. “That’s what I asked him.”  
  
Jason gazed into the storm as if watching for something. “That glittery wind trail we saw yesterday? It was still in the sky, though it had faded a lot. I followed it until I couldn’t see it anymore. Then - honestly I’m not sure. I just felt like this was the right place to stop.”  
  
“’Course it is.” Coach Hedge spit out some cudgel splinters. “Aeolus’s floating palace should be anchored above us, right at the peak. This is one of his favorite spots to dock.”  
  
“Maybe that was it.” Jason knit his eyebrows. “I don’t know. Something else, too...”  
  
“The Hunters were heading west,” I remembered. “You think they’re around?”  
  
Jason rubbed his forearm as if the tattoos were bothering him. “I don’t see how anyone could survive on the mountain right now. The storm’s pretty bad. It’s already the evening before the solstice, but we didn’t have much choice except to wait out the storm here. We had to give you two some time to rest before we tried moving.”  
  
He didn’t need to convince me. The wind howling outside the cave annoyed me, and I couldn’t stop shivering. Even Piper was looking warmer now, probably due to Leo's heightened body temperature.  
  
“We have to get you warm.” Jason sat next to me and held out his arms a little awkwardly. “Uh, you mind if I...”  
  
“You had me at warm.” He looked relieved at my enthusiastic reply, putting his arms around me. We scooted closer to the fire as Leo broke out some cooking supplies and started frying burger patties on an iron skillet. “So, guys, long as everyone's cuddled up for story time... something I’ve been meaning to tell you. On the way to Omaha, I had this dream. Kinda hard to understand with the static and the Wheel of Fortune breaking in-”  
  
“Wheel of Fortune?” I assumed Leo was kidding, but when he looked up to Piper from his burgers, his expression was deadly serious.  
  
“The thing is,” he said, “my dad Hephaestus talked to me.”  
  
Leo told us about his dream. In the firelight, with the wind howling, the story was even creepier. I could imagine the static-filled voice of the god warning about giants who were the sons of Tartarus, and about Leo losing some friends along the way.  
  
I tried to concentrate on something good: Jason’s arms around me, the warmth slowly spreading into my body, but I was terrified. What if one of the friends was Percy?

"I don’t understand," Piper said. "If demigods and gods have to work together to kill the giants, why would the gods stay silent? If they need us-”  
  
“Ha,” said Coach Hedge. “The gods hate needing humans. They like to be needed by humans, but not the other way around. Things will have to get a whole lot worse before Zeus admits he made a mistake closing Olympus.”  
  
“Coach,” Piper said, “that was almost an intelligent comment.”  
  
Hedge huffed. “What? I’m intelligent! I’m not surprised you cupcakes haven’t heard of the Giant War. The gods don’t like to talk about it. Bad PR to admit you needed mortals to help beat an enemy. That’s just embarrassing.”  
  
“There’s more, though,” Jason said. “When I dreamed about Hera in her cage, she said Zeus was acting unusually paranoid. And Hera - she said she went to those ruins because a voice had been speaking in her head. What if someone’s influencing the gods, like Medea influenced us?”  
  
Leo set hamburger buns on the skillet to toast. “Yeah, Hephaestus said something similar, like Zeus was acting weirder than usual. But what bothered me was the stuff my dad didn’t say. Like a couple of times he was talking about the demigods, and how he had so many kids and all. I don’t know. He acted like getting the greatest demigods together was going to be almost impossible—like Hera was trying, but it was a really stupid thing to do, and there was some secret Hephaestus wasn’t supposed to tell me.”

Jason shifted. I could feel the tension in his arms.  
  
“Chiron was the same way back at camp,” he said. “He mentioned a sacred oath not to discuss - something. Coach, you know anything about that?”  
  
“Nah. I’m just a satyr. They don’t tell us the juicy stuff. Especially an old-” He stopped himself.  
  
“An old guy like you?” Piper asked. “But you’re not that old, are you?”  
  
“Hundred and six,” the coach muttered.  
  
Leo coughed. “Say what?”

"Guys, fifty-three in human years. Chill out."  
  
“Yeah, Valdez, don't catch your panties on fire. Still, though, I made some enemies on the Council of Cloven Elders. I’ve been a protector a longtime. But they started saying I was getting unpredictable. Too violent. Can you imagine?”  
  
“Wow.” Piper didn't meet our eyes. “That’s hard to believe.”  
  
Coach scowled. “Yeah, then finally we get a good war going with the Titans, and do they put me on the front lines? No! They send me as far away as possible - the Canadian frontier, can you believe it? Then after the war, they put me out to pasture. The Wilderness School. Bah! Like I’m too old to be helpful just because I like playing offense. All those flower-pickers on the Council - talking about nature.”  
  
“I thought satyrs liked nature,” Piper ventured.  
  
“Shoot, I love nature,” Hedge said. “Nature means big things killing and eating little things! And when you’re a - you know - vertically challenged satyr like me, you get in good shape, you carry a big stick, and you don’t take nothing from no one! That’s nature.” Hedge snorted indignantly. “Flower-pickers. Anyway, I hope you got something vegetarian cooking, Valdez. I don’t do flesh.”  
  
“Yeah, Coach. Don’t eat your cudgel. I got some tofu patties here. Piper’s a vegetarian too. I’ll throw them on in a second.”

Silence filled the air. Gradually, I started to feel warmer. I finally managed to stop shivering and settle against Jason’s chest. Leo handed out the food. Piper looked heavily troubled, and finally, she spoke up  
  
“We need to talk. I don’t want to hide anything from you guys anymore.”  
  
We all looked at her with our mouths full of burger.  
  
“Three nights before the Grand Canyon trip,” she said, “I had a dream vision - a giant, telling me my father had been taken hostage. He told me I had to cooperate, or my dad would be killed.”  
  
The flames crackled. I finally connected the dots - the guilty looks, the knowledge of one giant in particular... “Enceladus? You mentioned that name before.”  
  
Coach Hedge whistled. “Big giant. Breathes fire. Not somebody I’d want barbecuing my daddy goat.”  
  
I gave him a _shut up_ look. “Piper, go on. What happened next?”  
  
“I- I tried to reach my dad, but all I got was his personal assistant, and she told me not to worry.”  
  
“Jane?” Leo remembered. “Didn’t Medea say something about controlling her?”  
  
Piper nodded. “To get my dad back, I had to sabotage this quest. I didn’t realize it would be the three of us. Then after we started the quest, Enceladus sent me another warning: He told me he wanted you two dead. He wants me to lead you to a mountain. I don’t know exactly which one, but it’s in the Bay Area - I could see the Golden Gate Bridge from the summit. I have to be there by noon on the solstice, tomorrow. An exchange.”  
  
She refused to meet our eyes. Finally, I put my hand on hers. "Gods, Pipes. I’m so sorry.”  
  
Leo nodded. “No kidding. You’ve been carrying this around for a week? Piper, we could help you.”  
  
She glared at us. “Why don’t you yell at me or something? I was ordered to kill you!”  
  
“Aw, come on,” Jason said. “You’ve saved us both on this quest. I’d put my life in your hands any day.”  
  
“Ditto," I said, and Leo nodded along.  
  
“You don’t get it!” Piper said. “I’ve probably just killed my dad, telling you this.”  
  
“I doubt it.” Coach Hedge belched. He was eating his tofu burger folded inside the paper plate, chewing it all like a taco. “Giant hasn’t gotten what he wants yet, so he still needs your dad for leverage. He’ll wait until the deadline passes, see if you show up. He wants you to divert the quest to this mountain, right?”  
  
Piper nodded uncertainly.  
  
“So that means Hera is being kept somewhere else,” Hedge reasoned. “And she has to be saved by the same day. So you have to choose - rescue your dad, or rescue Hera. If you go after Hera, then Enceladus takes care of your dad. Besides, Enceladus would never let you go even if you cooperated. You’re obviously one of the eight in the Great Prophecy.”  
  
That didn't seem to help Piper's mood.  
  
“So we have no choice,” she said miserably. “We have to save Hera, or the giant king gets unleashed. That’s our quest. The world depends on it. And Enceladus seems to have ways of watching me. He isn’t stupid. He’ll know if we change course and go the wrong way. He’ll kill my dad.”

"Hey, nobody's gonna be killing your dad," I said. "We'll save him, don't worry."  
  
“We don’t have time!” Piper cried. “Besides, it’s a trap.”  
  
“We’re your friends, beauty queen,” Leo said. “We’re not going to let your dad die. We just gotta figure out a plan.”  
  
Coach Hedge grumbled. “Would help if we knew where this mountain was. Maybe Aeolus can tell you that. The Bay Area has a bad reputation for demigods. Old home of the Titans, Mount Othrys, sits over Mount Tam, where Atlas holds up the sky. I hope that’s not the mountain you saw.”

My mind flashed back to holding up the sky with my brother, sharing the weight of the world on our shoulders. Gods, I missed him.  
  
“I don’t think so. This was inland.”  
  
Jason frowned at the fire, like he was trying to remember something.  
  
“Bad reputation... that doesn’t seem right. The Bay Area...”  
  
“You think you’ve been there?” Piper asked.  
  
“I...” He looked like he was almost on the edge of a breakthrough. Then the anguish came back into his eyes. “I don’t know. Chrissie, what happened to Mount Othrys?”

"It's where Kronos built his palace. It was going to be the headquarters for the new kingdom, after tearing down the gods and their society. The battle was in Manhattan, though, one battle at camp and one in NYC when he tried to take Olympus. He left some others in charge of the palace, but after Kronos was defeated, all the Titans all either fled and hid or got in trouble with the gods. The palace crumbled to dust on it's own, somehow."

“No,” Jason said.  
  
We all looked at him.  
  
“What do you mean, ‘No’?” Leo asked.  
  
“That’s not what happened. I—- He tensed, looking toward the cave entrance. “Did you hear that?”  
  
For a second, nothing. Then I heard it: howls piercing the night.


	22. Chapter 22

**PIPER**

“Wolves,” I said. “They sound close.”  
  
Jason rose and summoned his sword. Chrissie, Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet too. I tried, but black spots danced before my eyes.  
  
“Stay there,” Jason told her. “We’ll protect you.”  
  
I gritted my teeth. I hated feeling helpless. I didn’t want anyone to protect me. First the stupid ankle. Now stupid hypothermia. I wanted to be on my feet, with my dagger in her hand. Chrissie looked just fine, why wasn't I?  
  
Then, just outside the firelight at the entrance of the cave, I saw a pair of red eyes glowing in dark.  
  
 _Okay_ , I thought. _Maybe a little protection is fine._  
  
More wolves edged into the firelight - black beasts bigger than Great Danes, with ice and snow caked on their fur. Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes looked disturbingly intelligent. The wolf in front was almost as tall as a horse, his mouth stained as if he’d just made a fresh kill.  
  
I pulled my dagger out of its sheath.  
  
Then Jason stepped forward and said something in Latin.  
  
I didn’t think a dead language would have much effect on wild animals, but the alpha wolf curled his lip. The fur stood up along his spine. One of his lieutenants tried to advance, but the alpha wolf snapped at his ear. Then all of the wolves backed into the dark.  
  
“Dude, I gotta study Latin.” Leo’s hammer shook in his hand. “What’d you say, Jason?”  
  
Hedge cursed. “Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. Look.”  
  
The wolves were coming back, but the alpha wolf wasn’t with them. They didn’t attack. They waited—at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit.  
  
The coach hefted his club. “Here’s the plan. I’ll kill them all, and you guys escape.”

"Hedge, no," Chrissie said.  
  
“They’ll rip you apart,” I added.  
  
“Nah, I’m good.”  
  
Then I saw the silhouette of a man coming through the storm, wading through the wolf pack.  
  
“Stick together,” Jason said. “They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We’re not leaving you or anyone else behind.”  
  
I got a lump in my throat. I was the weak link in our “pack” right now. No doubt the wolves could smell my fear. I might as well be wearing a sign that said _free lunch._  
  
The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. His hair was greasy and ragged, the color of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur - wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others I couldn’t identify. The furs didn’t look cured, and from the smell, they weren’t very fresh. His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runner’s. But the most horrible thing was his face. His thin pale skin was pulled tight over his skull. His teeth were sharpened like fangs. His eyes glowed bright red like his wolves’ - and they fixed on Jason with absolute hatred.  
  
“ _Ecce_ ,” he said, “ _filli Romani_.”  
  
“Speak English, wolf man!” Hedge bellowed.  
  
The wolf man snarled. “Tell your faun to mind his tongue, son of Rome. Or he’ll be my first snack.”  
  
I remembered that faun was the Roman name for satyr.Not exactly helpful information. Now, if I could remember who this wolf guy was in Greek mythology, and how to defeat him, that I could use.  
  
The wolf man studied their little group. His nostrils twitched. “So it’s true,” he mused. “The daughter of Poseidon. A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. And a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. All together, without killing each other. How interesting.”  
  
“You were told about us?” Jason asked. “By whom?”  
  
The man snarled - perhaps a laugh, perhaps a challenge. “Oh, we’ve been patrolling for you all across the west, demigod, hoping we’d be the first to find you. The giant king will reward me well when he rises. I am Lycaon, king of the wolves. And my pack is hungry.”  
  
The wolves snarled in the darkness.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, I saw Leo put up his hammer and slip something else from his tool belt - a glass bottle full of clear liquid.  
  
I racked my brain trying to place the wolf guy’s name. I knew I’d heard it before, but I couldn’t remember details.  
  
Lycaon glared at Jason’s sword. He moved to each side as if looking for an opening, but Jason’s blade moved with him.  
  
“Leave,” Jason ordered. “There’s no food for you here.”  
  
“Unless you want tofu burgers,” Leo offered.

Lycaon bared his fangs. Apparently he wasn’t a tofu fan.  
  
“If I had my way,” Lycaon said with regret, “I’d kill you first, son of Jupiter. Your father made me what I am. I was the powerful mortal king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts.”  
  
“Ha,” Coach Hedge said. “For good reason!”  
  
Jason glanced over his shoulder. “Coach, you know this clown?”  
  
“I do,” I answered. The details of the myth came back to me - a short, horrible story my father and I had laughed at over breakfast. I wasn’t laughing now.  
  
“Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner,” I said. “But the king wasn’t sure it was really Zeus. So to test his powers, Lycaon tried to feed him human flesh. Zeus got outraged-”  
  
“And killed my sons!” Lycaon howled. The wolves behind him howled too.  
  
“So Zeus turned him into a wolf,” I said. “They call... they call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf.”  
  
“The king of wolves,” Coach Hedge finished. “An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt.”  
  
Lycaon growled. “I will tear you apart, faun!”  
  
“Oh, you want some goat, buddy? ’Cause I’ll give you goat.”  
  
“Stop it,” Jason said. “Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but...?”  
  
“Sadly, Child of Rome, you are spoken for. Since this one” - he waggled his claws at me - “has failed to kill you, you are to be delivered alive to the Wolf House. One of my compatriots has asked for the honor of killing you herself.”  
  
“Who?” Jason said.  
  
The wolf king snickered. “Oh, a great admirer of yours. Apparently, you made quite an impression on her. She will take care of you soon enough, and really I cannot complain. Spilling your blood at the Wolf House should mark my new territory quite well. Lupa will think twice about challenging my pack.”  
  
My heart tried to jump out of my chest. I didn’t understand everything Lycaon had said, but a woman who wanted to kill Jason? Medea, I thought. Somehow, she must’ve survived the explosion.  
  
I struggled to my feet. Spots danced before my eyes again. The cave seemed to spin.  
  
“You’re going to leave now,” I said, “before we destroy you.”  
  
I tried to put power into the words, but I was too weak. Shivering in my blankets, pale and sweaty and barely able to hold a knife, I couldn’t have looked very threatening.  
  
Lycaon’s red eyes crinkled with humor. “A brave try, girl. I admire that. Perhaps I’ll make your end quick. Only the son of Jupiter is needed alive. The rest of you, I’m afraid, are dinner.”  
  
At that moment, I knew I was going to die. But at least I’d die on her feet, fighting next to my friends.  
  
Jason took a step forward. “You’re not killing anyone, wolf man. Not without going through me.”  
  
Lycaon howled and extended his claws. Jason slashed at him, but his golden sword passed straight through as if the wolf king wasn’t there.  
  
Lycaon laughed. “Gold, bronze, steel - none of these are any good against my wolves, son of Jupiter.”  
  
“Silver!” Chrissie realized. “Werewolves get hurt by silver!”  
  
“We don’t have any silver!” Jason said.

"I know, just hold on!" For some reason, Chrissie grabbed her backpack and started rummaging through it after saying that.  
  
Wolves leaped into the firelight. Hedge charged forward with an elated “Woot!”  
  
But Leo struck first. He threw his glass bottle and it shattered on the ground, splattering liquid all over the wolves - the unmistakable smell of gasoline. He shot a burst of fire at the puddle, and a wall of flames erupted.  
  
Wolves yelped and retreated. Several caught fire and had to run back into the snow. Even Lycaon looked uneasily at the barrier of flames now separating his wolves from the demigods.  
  
“Aw, c’mon,” Coach Hedge complained. “I can’t hit them if they’re way over there.”

Chrissie finally got a thin little metal tube from her backpack, and blew on it hard. When a shrill, piercing sound came from it, I realized it was a whistle, but it only angered the wolves more every time she blew on it

"What are you _doing_?" Jason finally asked her.

"Just trust me!" She blew on it one final time, and a single wolf charged, only to be stopped by more fire erupting.  
  
Every time one of them came closer, trying to get to Chrissie, Leo shot a new wave of fire from his hands, but each effort seemed to make him a little more tired, and the gasoline was already dying down. “I can’t summon any more gas!” Leo warned. Then his face turned red. “Wow, that came out wrong. I mean the burning kind. Gonna take the tool belt a while to recharge. What you got, man?”  
  
“Nothing,” Jason said. “Not even a weapon that works.”  
  
“Lightning?” I asked.  
  
Jason concentrated, but nothing happened. “I think the snowstorm is interfering, or something.”  
  
“Unleash the venti!” I said.  
  
“Then we’ll have nothing to give Aeolus,” Jason said. “We’ll have come all this way for nothing.”  
  
Lycaon laughed. “I can smell your fear. A few more minutes of life, heroes. Pray to whatever gods you wish. Zeus did not grant me mercy, and you will have none from me.”  
  
The flames began to sputter out. Jason cursed and dropped his sword. He crouched like he was ready to go hand-to-hand. Leo pulled his hammer out of his pack. I raised my dagger - not much, but it was all I had. Coach Hedge hefted his club, and he was the only one who looked excited about dying, and Chrissie was the only relaxed one, seemingly not bothered by Lycaon's threats.  
  
Then a ripping sound cut through the wind - like a piece of tearing cardboard. A long stick sprouted from the neck of the nearest wolf - the shaft of a silver arrow. The wolf writhed and fell, melting into a puddle of shadow.  
  
More arrows. More wolves fell. The pack broke in confusion. An arrow flashed toward Lycaon, but the wolf king caught it in midair. Then he yelled in pain. When he dropped the arrow, it left a charred, smoking gash across his palm. Another arrow caught him in the shoulder, and the wolf king staggered.  
  
“Curse them!” Lycaon yelled. He growled at his pack, and the wolves turned and ran. Lycaon fixed Jason with those glowing red eyes. “This isn’t over, boy.”

The wolf king disappeared into the night.  
  
Seconds later, I heard more wolves baying, but the sound was different - less threatening, more like hunting dogs on the scent. A smaller white wolf burst into the cave, followed by two more.  
  
Hedge said, “Kill it?”  
  
“No!” Chrissie said. “Wait.”  
  
The wolves tilted their heads and studied the campers with huge golden eyes. One of them even trotted up to Chrissie and started nuzzling her leg.  
  
A heartbeat later, their masters appeared: a troop of hunters in white-and-gray winter camouflage, at least half a dozen. All of them carried bows, with quivers of glowing silver arrows on their backs.  
  
Their faces were covered with parka hoods, but clearly they were all girls. One, a little taller than the rest, rushed to hug Chrissie, and crouched in the firelight to snatch up the arrow that had wounded Lycaon’s hand.  
  
“So close.” She turned to her companions. “Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can’t lose him now. I’ll catch up with you.”  
  
The other hunters mumbled agreement and disappeared, heading after Lycaon’s pack.  
  
The girl in white turned toward us, her face still hidden in her parka hood. “We’ve been following that demon’s trail for over a week, thank the gods for the whistle. Is everyone all right? No one got bit?”

Jason stood frozen, staring at the girl. I realized something about her voice sounded familiar. It was hard to pin down, but the way she spoke, the way she formed her words, reminded me of Jason.  
  
“You’re her,” I guessed. “You’re Thalia.”  
  
The girl tensed. I was afraid she might draw her bow, but instead she pulled down her parka hood. Her hair was spiky black, with a silver tiara across her brow. Her face had a super-healthy glow to it, as if she were a little more than human, and her eyes were brilliant blue. She was the girl from Jason’s photograph.  
  
“Do I know you?” Thalia asked, looking at Chrissie for confirmation, who took a deep breath.

"You're in for kind of a shock, Thals, but-"  
  
“Thalia.” Jason stepped forward, his voice trembling. “I’m Jason, your brother.”


	23. Chapter 23

**CHRISSIE**

For a minute, Jason and Thalia faced each other, stunned. Then Thalia rushed forward and hugged him.  
  
“My gods! She told me you were dead!” She gripped Jason’s face and seemed to be examining everything about it. “Thank Artemis, it is you. That little scar on your lip - you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!”  
  
Leo laughed. “Seriously?”  
  
Hedge nodded like he approved of Jason’s taste. “Staplers - excellent source of iron.”  
  
“W-wait,” Jason stammered. “Who told you I was dead? What happened?”  
  
At the cave entrance, one of the white wolves barked. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason’s face, like she was afraid he might vanish. “My wolf is telling me I don’t have much time, and she’s right. But we have to talk. Let’s sit.”  
  
Piper did better than that. She collapsed. She would’ve cracked her head on the cave floor if Hedge hadn’t caught her.  
  
Thalia rushed over. “What’s wrong with her? Ah- never mind. I see. Hypothermia. Ankle.” She frowned at the satyr. “Don’t you know nature healing?”  
  
Hedge scoffed. “Why do you think she looks this good? Can’t you smell the Gatorade?”  
  
Thalia glared at Leo like _Why did you let the goat be a doctor_?  
  
“You and the satyr,” Thalia ordered, “take the girls to my friend at the entrance. Phoebe’s an excellent healer.”

“It’s cold out there!” Hedge said. “I’ll freeze my horns off.”  
  
Leo looked troubled. “Come on, Hedge. These two need time to talk.”  
  
“Humph. Fine,” the satyr muttered. “Didn’t even get to brain anybody.”  
  
Hedge and Leo carried Piper toward the entrance. I was about to follow when Jason called, “Actually, Chris, could you, um, stick around?”  
  
I saw something in Jason’s eyes I didn’t expect: Jason was asking for support. He wanted somebody else there. He was scared.

I looked at Thalia, to make sure she was comfortable with it, and she nodded, so I sat down with them at the fire.  
  
For a few minutes, nobody spoke. Jason studied his sister like she was a scary device - one that might explode if handled incorrectly. Thalia seemed more at ease, but then again, she was used to stumbling across stranger things than long-lost relatives. But still she regarded Jason in a kind of amazed trance, maybe remembering a little two-year-old who tried to eat a stapler.  
  
Finally, Jason spoke up. "Thalia... what happened to our family? Who told you I was dead?”  
  
Thalia tugged at a silver bracelet on her wrist. In the firelight, in her winter camouflage, she almost looked like Khione the snow princess - just as cold and beautiful.  
  
“Do you remember anything?” she asked.  
  
Jason shook his head. “I woke up three days ago on a bus with Leo and Piper.”  
  
“Hera stole his memories,” I added, rolling my eyes.  
  
Thalia tensed. “Hera? How do you know that?”  
  
Jason explained about their quest - the prophecy at camp, Hera getting imprisoned, the giant taking Piper’s dad, and the winter solstice deadline. I chimed in with the details he forgot: my father's message at the Big House, Hera appearing to Piper in her cabin, the cyclopes' dust reforming.  
  
Thalia was a good listener. Nothing really surprised her - the monsters, the prophecies, the dead rising. But when Jason mentioned King Midas, she cursed in Ancient Greek.  
  
“I knew we should’ve burned down his mansion,” she said. “That man’s a menace. But we were so intent on following Lycaon - Well, I’m glad you got away. So Hera’s been... what, hiding you all these years?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Jason brought out the photo from his pocket. “She left me just enough memory to recognize your face.”  
  
Thalia looked at the picture, and her expression softened. “I’d forgotten about that. I left it in Cabin One, didn’t I?”  
  
Jason nodded. “I think Hera wanted for us to meet. When we landed here, at this cave... I had a feeling it was important. Like I knew you were close by. Is that crazy?”

"No," I assured him. "I have a similar thing with- with Percy" I didn't expect my voice to leave me for a second there.  
  
“Besides,” Thalia added, “when you’re dealing with the gods, nothing is too crazy. But you can’t trust Hera, especially since we’re children of Zeus. She hates all children of Zeus.”  
  
“But she said something about Zeus giving her my life as a peace offering. Does that make any sense?”  
  
The color drained from Thalia’s face. “Oh, gods. Mother wouldn’t have... You don’t remember- No, of course you don’t.”  
  
“What?” Jason asked.  
  
Thalia’s features seemed to grow older in the firelight, like her immortality wasn’t working so well. “Jason... I’m not sure how to say this. Our mom wasn’t exactly stable. She caught Zeus’s eye because she was a television actress, and she was beautiful, but she didn’t handle the fame well. She drank, pulled stupid stunts. She was always in the tabloids. She could never get enough attention. Even before you were born, she and I argued all the time. She... she knew Dad was Zeus, and I think that was too much for her to take. It was like the ultimate achievement for her to attract the lord of the sky, and she couldn’t accept it when he left. The thing about the gods... well, they don’t hang around.”

I remembered my mom, insisting for years that dad was lost at sea. "Not dead. Lost at sea," she'd say. She always thought Percy and I were the most important, though. She'd dealt with working shitty jobs, Smelly Gabe using all her money, living in the tiny apartment, all for us. I vowed to myself to visit her as soon as the quest was over. She had to be taking it hard, with Percy missing and me having to save the world again.  
  
I watched Jason’s face - looking more and more devastated as Thalia described their mom. I felt bad for Jason, not having memories like mine - not having anything to fall back on.  
  
“So...” Jason didn’t seem able to finish the question. I put my hand on his and ignored the small spark that travelled up my spine when he looked into my eyes.

"Jase, you have friends. You have me. Now you have your sister. You're never gonna be alone."  
  
Thalia offered her hand too, and Jason took it.  
  
“When I was about seven,” she said, “Zeus started visiting Mom again. I think he felt bad about wrecking her life, and he seemed - different somehow. A little older and sterner, more fatherly toward me. For a while, Mom improved. She loved having Zeus around, bringing her presents, causing the sky to rumble. She always wanted more attention. That’s the year you were born. Mom... well, I never got along with her, but you gave me a reason to hang around. You were so cute. And I didn’t trust Mom to look after you. Of course, Zeus eventually stopped coming by again. He probably couldn’t stand Mom’s demands anymore, always pestering him to let her visit Olympus, or to make her immortal or eternally beautiful. When he left for good, Mom got more and more unstable. That was about the time the monsters started attacking me. Mom blamed Hera. She claimed the goddess was coming after you too - that Hera had barely tolerated my birth, but two demigod children from the same family was too big an insult. Mom even said she hadn’t wanted to name you Jason, but Zeus insisted, as a way to appease Hera because the goddess liked that name. I didn’t know what to believe.”

“How did we get separated?” Jason finally asked, looking afraid of the answer.  
  
Thalia squeezed her brother’s hand. “If I’d known you were alive... gods, things would’ve been so different. But when you were two, Mom packed us in the car for a family vacation. We drove up north, toward the wine country, to this park she wanted to show us. I remember thinking it was strange because Mom never took us anywhere, and she was acting super nervous. I was holding your hand, walking you toward this big building in the middle of the park, and...” She took a shaky breath. “Mom told me to go back to the car and get the picnic basket. I didn’t want to leave you alone with her, but it was only for a few minutes. When I came back... Mom was kneeling on the stone steps, hugging herself and crying. She said- she said you were gone. She said Hera claimed you and you were as good as dead. I didn’t know what she’d done. I was afraid she’d completely lost her mind. I ran all over the place looking for you, but you’d just vanished. She had to drag me away, kicking and screaming. For the next few days I was hysterical. I don’t remember everything, but I called the police on Mom and they questioned her for a long time. Afterward, we fought. She told me I’d betrayed her, that I should support her, like she was the only one who mattered. Finally I couldn’t stand it. Your disappearance was the last straw. I ran away from home, and I never went back, not even when Mom died a few years ago. I thought you were gone forever. I never told anyone about you - not even Annabeth or Luke, my two best friends. Chrissie and Percy never knew, either. It was just too painful.”  
  
“Chiron knew.” Jason’s voice sounded far away. “When I got to camp, he took one look at me and said, ‘You should be dead.’”  
  
“That doesn’t make sense,” Thalia insisted. “I never told him.”

"But you have each other now. You two got as lucky as you still could get," I told them  
  
Thalia nodded. “Chrissie's right. Look at you. You’re my age. You’ve grown up.”  
  
“But where have I been?” Jason said. “How could I be missing all that time? And the Roman stuff...”  
  
Thalia frowned. “The Roman stuff?”  
  
“Your brother speaks Latin,” I told her. “He calls gods by their Roman names, and he’s got tattoos.” I gently turned Jason's arm over so she could see. I told her about Boreas turning into Aquilon, Lycaon calling Jason a “child of Rome,” and the wolves backing off when Jason spoke Latin to them.  
  
Thalia plucked her bowstring. “Latin. Zeus sometimes spoke Latin, the second time he stayed with Mom. Like I said, he seemed different, more formal.”  
  
“You think he was in his Roman aspect?” Jason asked. “And that’s why I think of myself as a child of Jupiter?”  
  
“Possibly,” Thalia said. “I’ve never heard of something like that happening, but it might explain why you think in Roman terms, why you can speak Latin rather than Ancient Greek. That would make you unique. Still, it doesn’t explain how you’ve survived without Camp Half-Blood. A child of Zeus, or Jupiter, or whatever you want to call him - you would’ve been hounded by monsters. If you were on your own, you should’ve died years ago. I know I wouldn’t have been able to survive without friends. You would’ve needed training, a safe haven...”

"We've heart about others like, him though," I put in  
  
Thalia looked at him strangely. “What do you mean?”

I told her about the slashed-up purple shirt in Medea’s department store, and the story the Cyclopes told about the child of Mercury who spoke Latin.

"Maybe... Maybe there's another place for demigods," I thought out loud. Thalia's icy blue eyes studied me, considering the idea.  
  
“I’ve been all over the country,” she mused. “I’ve never seen demigods in purple shirts, or knowing Latin. Still...” Her voice trailed off, like she’d just had a troubling thought.  
  
“What?” Jason asked.  
  
Thalia shook her head. “I’ll have to talk to the goddess. Maybe Artemis will guide us.”  
  
“She’s still talking to you?” Jason asked. “Most of the gods have gone silent.”  
  
“Artemis follows her own rules,” Thalia said. “She has to be careful not to let Zeus know, but she thinks Zeus is being ridiculous closing Olympus. She’s the one who set us on the trail of Lycaon. She said we’d find a lead to a missing friend of ours.”

"Let's hope it connects us to Percy, then," I said. I was suddenly feeling more hopeful than before.  
  
If both my dad and Artemis had hinted at the connection, there had to be something we could do, right?

"Your deadline is tomorrow," Thalia broke the silence. "We're wasting time chatting. Aeolus should be able to tell you—”  
  
The white wolf appeared again at the doorway and yipped insistently.  
  
“I have to get moving.” Thalia stood. “Otherwise I’ll lose the other Hunters’ trail. First, though, I’ll take you to Aeolus’s palace.”

“If you can’t, it’s okay,” Jason said, though he sounded kind of distressed.  
  
“Oh, please.” Thalia smiled and helped him up. “I haven’t had a brother in years. I think I can stand a few minutes with you before you get annoying. Now, let’s go!”


	24. Chapter 24

**JASON**

When we got outside, Phoebe the Huntress was pouring hot chocolate in Hedge's cup.

She'd set up this silver tent pavilion thing right outside the cave. How she’d done it so fast, I had no idea, but inside was a kerosene heater keeping them toasty warm and a bunch of comfy throw pillows. Piper looked back to normal, decked out in a new parka, gloves, and camo pants like a Hunter. She, Leo, Hedge and Phoebe were kicking back, drinking hot chocolate.

"'Sup," Leo greeted us. He must've been hitting on Phoebe, because she sniffed. “Boys,” she said, like it was the worst insult she could think of.  
  
“It’s all right, Phoebe,” Thalia said. “Oh, and we need extra coats. Can't have new hypothermia developing.”  
  
Phoebe didn't look too pleased, but soon Chrissie and I were also dressed in silvery winter clothes that were incredibly lightweight and warm. The hot chocolate Thalia poured us was first-rate.  
  
“Cheers!” said Coach Hedge. He crunched down his plastic thermos cup.  
  
“That cannot be good for your intestines,” Leo said.  
  
Thalia patted Piper on the back. “You up for moving?”  
  
Piper nodded. “Thanks to Phoebe, yeah. You guys are really good at this wilderness survival thing. I feel like I could run ten miles.”  
  
Thalia winked at us. “She’s tough for a child of Aphrodite. I like this one.”  
  
“Hey, I could run ten miles too,” Leo volunteered. “Tough Hephaestus kid here. Let’s hit it.”  
  
Naturally, Thalia ignored him.  
  
It took Phoebe exactly six seconds to break camp, which I could not believe. The tent self-collapsed into a square the size of a pack of chewing gum, which shouldn't have shocked me as much as it did after Festus basically did the same, but still.  
  
Thalia ran uphill through the snow, hugging a tiny little path on the side of the mountain. Phoebe and Piper followed, with Leo - already looking tired after three or four minutes - behind them.  
  
Coach Hedge leaped around like a happy mountain goat, coaxing everyone for enthusiasm. “Come on, Valdez! Pick up the pace! Let’s chant. I’ve got a girl in Kalamazoo-”  
  
“Let’s not,” Thalia snapped.  
  
So we ran in silence.  
  
Chrissie ran next to me at the back of the group. “Hey. How're you feeling?”

For a moment, I didn't know how to voice my thoughts.  
  
“Thalia takes it so calmly,” I finally said. “Like it’s no big deal that I appeared. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but... she’s not like me. She seems so much more together.”

"Maybe, but she's got more time to have gotten used to this kind of stuff. And she's not fighting amnesia, on top of that."

“Maybe,” Jason said. “I just wish I understood what happened when I was two, why my mom got rid of me. Thalia ran away because of me.”

"Hey, whatever happened in the past, it wasn't your fault. And Thals is cool. Guess that runs in the family."  
  
I took that in silence, too distracted to even blush when Chrissie took my hand and squeezed it.

When we finally stopped, I intertwined our fingers, needing some support before we went in there.

Leo finally caught up to us, having fallen behind. He was so in his thoughts he didn't even notice bumping into Thalia. Luckily, she was light on her feet and steadied them both.  
  
“That,” Leo choked, “is a really large rock.”  
  
We stood near the summit of Pikes Peak. Below us, the world was blanketed in clouds. The air felt very thin and Chrissie's breathing was shallow next to me. Night had set in, but a full moon shone and the stars were incredible. Stretching out to the north and south, peaks of other mountains rose from the clouds like islands - or teeth.  
  
But the real show was above us. Hovering in the sky, about a quarter mile away, was a massive free-floating island of glowing purple stone. It was hard to judge its size, but I figured it was at least as wide as a football stadium and just as tall. The sides were rugged cliffs, riddled with caves, and every once in a while a gust of wind burst out with a sound like a pipe organ blast. At the top of the rock, brass walls ringed some kind of a fortress.  
  
The only thing connecting Pikes Peak to the floating island was a narrow bridge of ice that glistened in the moonlight.  
  
Then I realized the bridge wasn’t exactly ice, because it wasn’t solid. As the winds changed direction, the bridge snaked around - blurring and thinning, in some places even breaking into a dotted line like the vapor trail of a plane.

“We’re not seriously crossing that,” Leo said.  
  
Thalia shrugged. “I’m not a big fan of heights, I’ll admit. But if you want to get to Aeolus’s fortress, this is the only way.”  
  
“Is the fortress always hanging there?” Piper asked. “How can people not notice it sitting on top of Pikes Peak?”  
  
“The Mist,” Thalia said. “Still, mortals do notice it indirectly. Some days, Pikes Peak looks purple. People say it’s a trick of the light, but actually it’s the color of Aeolus’s palace, reflecting off the mountain face.”  
  
“It’s enormous,” I said.  
  
Thalia laughed. “You should see Olympus, little brother.”  
  
“You’re serious? You’ve been there?”  
  
Thalia caught Chrissie's eye, and they grimaced as if it wasn’t a good memory. “We should go across in two different groups. The bridge is fragile.”  
  
“That’s reassuring,” Leo said. “Jason, can’t you just fly us up there?”  
  
Thalia laughed. Then she seemed to realize Leo’s question wasn’t a joke. “Wait... Jason, you can fly?”  
  
I gazed up at the floating fortress. “Well, sort of. More like I can control the winds. But the winds up here are so strong, I’m not sure I’d want to try. Thalia, you mean... you can’t fly?”  
  
For a second, Thalia looked genuinely afraid. Then she got her expression under control. I realized she was a lot more scared of heights than she was letting on.  
  
“Truthfully,” she said, “I’ve never tried. Might be better if we stuck to the bridge.”  
  
Coach Hedge tapped the ice vapor trail with his hoof, then jumped onto the bridge. Amazingly, it held his weight. “Easy! I’ll go first. Come on, girls, I’ll give you a hand.”  
  
“No, that’s okay,” Piper started to say, but the coach grabbed her hand, yanked Chrissie out of my grip, and dragged them both up the bridge.  
  
When they were about halfway, the bridge still seemed to be holding them just fine.  
  
Thalia turned to her Hunter friend. “Phoebe, I’ll be back soon. Go find the others. Tell them I’m on my way.”  
  
“You sure?” Phoebe narrowed her eyes at me and Leo, like we might kidnap Thalia or something.  
  
“It’s fine,” Thalia promised.  
  
Phoebe nodded reluctantly, then raced down the mountain path, the white wolves at her heels.  
  
“Jason, Leo, just be careful where you step,” Thalia said. “It hardly ever breaks.”  
  
“It hasn’t met me yet,” Leo muttered, but he and Jason led the way up the bridge.  
  
Halfway up, things went wrong.

Hedge and the girls had already made it safely to the top and were waving at us, encouraging them to keep climbing, but Leo seemed to get distracted. A metaphorical lightbulb lit up above his head.  
  
“Why do they have a bridge?” he asked.  
  
Thalia frowned. “Leo, this isn’t a good place to stop. What do you mean?”  
  
“They’re wind spirits,” Leo said. “Can’t they fly?”  
  
“Yes, but sometimes they need a way to connect to the world below.”  
  
“So the bridge isn’t always here?” Leo asked.  
  
Thalia shook her head. “The wind spirits don’t like to anchor to the earth, but sometimes it’s necessary. Like now. They know you’re coming.”  
  
“Leo?” I asked. “What are you thinking?”  
  
“Oh, gods,” Thalia said. “Keep moving. Look at your feet.”

Leo shuffled backward. With horror, I realized his body temperature was rapidly rising. His pants steamed in the cold air. His shoes were literally smoking, and the bridge didn’t like it. The ice was thinning.  
  
“Leo, stop it,” I warned. “You’re going to melt it.”  
  
“I’ll try,” Leo said, but he didn't keep walking. “Listen, Jason, what did Hera call you in that dream? She called you a bridge.”  
  
“Leo, seriously, cool down,” Thalia said. “I don’t what you’re talking about, but the bridge is-”  
  
“Just listen,” Leo insisted. “If Jason is a bridge, what’s he connecting? Maybe two different places that normally don’t get along - like the air palace and the ground. You had to be somewhere before this, right? And Hera said you were an exchange.”  
  
“An exchange.” Thalia’s eyes widened. “Oh, gods.”  
  
I frowned. “What are you two talking about?”  
  
Thalia murmured something like a prayer. “I understand now why Artemis sent me here. Jason - she told me to hunt for Lycaon and I would find a clue about Percy. You are the clue. Artemis wanted us to meet so I could hear your story.”  
  
“I don’t understand,” I protested. “I don’t have a story. I don’t remember anything.”  
  
“But Leo’s right,” Thalia said. “It’s all connected. If we just knew where-”  
  
Leo snapped his fingers. “Jason, what did you call that place in your dream? That ruined house. The Wolf House?”  
  
Thalia nearly choked. “The Wolf House? Jason, why didn’t you tell me that! That’s where they’re keeping Hera?”  
  
“You know where it is?” I asked.  
  
Then the bridge dissolved. Leo would’ve fallen to his death, but I grabbed his coat and pulled him to safety. The two of us scrambled up the bridge, and when we turned, Thalia was on the other side of a thirty-foot chasm. The bridge was continuing to melt.  
  
“Go!” Thalia shouted, backing down the bridge as it crumbled. “Find out where the giant is keeping Piper’s dad. Save him! I’ll take the Hunters to the Wolf House and hold it until you can get there. We can do both!”  
  
“But where is the Wolf House?” I shouted.  
  
“You know where it is, little brother!” She was so far away now that we could barely hear her voice over the wind. I was pretty sure she said: “I’ll see you there. I promise.”  
  
Then she turned and raced down the dissolving bridge.  
  
Leo and I had no time to stand around. We climbed for their lives, the ice vapor thinning under their feet. Several times, I grabbed Leo and used the winds to keep them aloft, but it was more like bungee jumping than flying.  
  
When we reached the floating island, Chrissie, Piper and Coach Hedge pulled us aboard just as the last of the vapor bridge vanished. We stood gasping for breath at the base of a stone stairway chiseled into the side of the cliff, leading up to the fortress.  
  
I looked back down. The top of Pikes Peak floated below us in a sea of clouds, but there was no sign of Thalia. And we had just managed to burn our only exit.  
  
“What happened?” Piper demanded. “Leo, why are your clothes smoking?”  
  
“I got a little heated,” he gasped. “Sorry, Jason. Honest. I didn’t-”  
  
“It’s all right,” I said. “We’ve got less than twenty-four hours to rescue a goddess and Piper’s dad. Let’s go see the king of the winds.”


	25. Chapter 25

**JASON**

I'd found my sister and lost her in less than an hour. As we climbed the cliffs of the floating island, I kept looking back, but Thalia was gone.  
  
Despite what she’d said about meeting me again, I wondered. She’d found a new family with the Hunters, and a new mother in Artemis. She seemed so confident and comfortable with her life, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be part of it. And she seemed so set on finding Percy. Had she ever searched for me that way?  
  
 _Not fair_ , I told myself. _She thought you were dead._  
  
I could barely tolerate what she’d said about our mom. It was almost like Thalia had handed me a baby - a really loud, ugly baby - and said, _Here, this is yours. Carry it._

I didn’t want to carry it. I didn’t want to look at it or claim it. I didn’t want to know that I had an unstable mother who’d gotten rid of me to appease a goddess. No wonder Thalia had run away.  
  
Then I remembered the Zeus cabin at Camp Half-Blood - that tiny little alcove Thalia had used as a bunk, out of sight from the glowering statue of the sky god. Our dad wasn’t much of a bargain, either. I understood why Thalia had renounced that part of her life too, but I was still resentful. I couldn’t be so lucky. I was left holding the bag - literally.  
  
The golden backpack of winds was strapped over my shoulders. The closer we got to Aeolus’s palace, the heavier the bag got. The winds struggled, rumbling and bumping around.  
  
The only one who seemed in a good mood was Coach Hedge. He kept bounding up the slippery staircase and trotting back down. “Come on, cupcakes! Only a few thousand more steps!”  
  
As we climbed, Chrissie walked next to me, our shoulders brushing with every step. It was a weird, but pleasant comfort having the physical touch. It kept me grounded, in some way.

Leo and Piper left us in our silence. Piper kept glancing back, worried, as if I were the one who’d almost died of hypothermia rather than she. Or maybe she was thinking about Thalia’s idea. We’d told her what Thalia had said on the bridge - how we could save both her dad and Hera - but I didn’t really understand how we were going to do that, and I wasn’t sure if the possibility had made Piper more hopeful or just more anxious.

Leo kept swatting his own legs, checking for signs that his pants were on fire. He wasn’t steaming anymore, but the incident on the ice bridge had really freaked me out. Leo hadn’t seemed to realize that he had smoke coming out his ears and flames dancing through his hair. If Leo started spontaneously combusting every time he got excited, we were going to have a tough time taking him anywhere. I imagined trying to get food at a restaurant. I’ll have a cheeseburger and - _Ahhh! My friend’s on fire! Get me a bucket!_  
  
Mostly, though, I worried about what Leo had said. I didn’t want to be a bridge, or an exchange, or anything else. I just wanted to know where I’d come from. And Thalia had looked so unnerved when we'd mentioned the burned-out house in his dreams - the place the wolf Lupa had told me was my starting point. How did Thalia know that place, and why did she assume I could find it?  
  
The answer seemed close. But the nearer I got to it, the less it cooperated, like the winds on my back.  
  
Finally we arrived at the top of the island. Bronze walls marched all the way around the fortress grounds, though I couldn’t imagine who would possibly attack this place. Twenty-foot-high gates opened for us, and a road of polished purple stone led up to the main citadel - a white-columned rotunda, Greek style, like one of the monuments in Washington, D.C. - except for the cluster of satellite dishes and radio towers on the roof.

“That’s bizarre,” Piper said.

"Got that right," Chrissie muttered.  
  
“Guess you can’t get cable on a floating island,” Leo added. “Dang, check this guy’s front yard.”  
  
The rotunda sat in the center of a quarter-mile circle. The grounds were amazing in a scary way. They were divided into four sections like big pizza slices, each one representing a season.  
  
The section on their right was an icy waste, with bare trees and a frozen lake. Snowmen rolled across the landscape as the wind blew, so I wasn’t sure if they were decorations or alive.  
  
To our left was an autumn park with gold and red trees. Mounds of leaves blew into patterns - gods, people, animals that ran after each other before scattering back into leaves.  
  
In the distance, I could see two more areas behind the rotunda. One looked like a green pasture with sheep made out of clouds. The last section was a desert where tumbleweeds scratched strange patterns in the sand like Greek letters, smiley faces, and a huge advertisement that read: _watch Aeolus Nightly!_

"Each wind god gets their respective cardinal direction," Chrissie murmured.

“I’m loving that pasture.” Coach Hedge licked his lips. “You guys mind-”  
  
“Go ahead,” I said. I was actually relieved to send the satyr off. It would be hard enough getting on Aeolus’s good side without Coach Hedge waving his club and screaming, “Die!”  
  
While the satyr ran off to attack springtime, the four of us walked down the road to the steps of the palace. We passed through the front doors into a white marble foyer decorated with purple banners that read _olympian weather channel_ , and some that just read _ow!_  
  
“Hello!” A woman floated up to us. Literally floated. She was pretty in that elfish way I associated with nature spirits at Camp Half-Blood - petite, slightly pointy ears, and an ageless face that could’ve been sixteen or thirty. Her brown eyes twinkled cheerfully. Even though there was no wind, her dark hair blew in slow motion, shampoo-commercial style. Her white gown billowed around her like parachute material. I couldn’t tell if she had feet, but if so, they didn’t touch the floor. She had a white tablet computer in her hand. “Are you from Lord Zeus?” she asked. “We’ve been expecting you.”  
  
I tried to respond, but it was a little hard to think straight, because I’d realized the woman was see-through. Her shape faded in and out like she was made of fog.  
  
“Are you a ghost?” I asked.  
  
Right away I knew I’d insulted her. The smile turned into a pout. “I’m an aura, sir. A wind nymph, as you might expect, working for the lord of the winds. My name is Mellie. We don’t have ghosts.”  
  
Piper came to the rescue. “No, of course you don’t! My friend simply mistook you for Helen of Troy, the most beautiful mortal of all time. It’s an easy mistake.”  
  
Wow, she was good. The compliment seemed a little over the top, but Mellie the aura blushed. “Oh... well, then. So you are from Zeus?”  
  
“Er,” I said, “I’m the son of Zeus, yeah.”  
  
“Excellent! Please, right this way.” She led us through some security doors into another lobby, consulting her tablet as she floated. She didn’t look where she was going, but apparently it didn’t matter as she drifted straight through a marble column with no problem. “We’re out of prime time now, so that’s good,” she mused. “I can fit you in right before his 11:12 spot.”  
  
“Um, okay,” I said.  
  
The lobby was a pretty distracting place. Winds blasted around them, so I felt like I was pushing through an invisible crowd. Doors blew open and slammed by themselves.  
  
The things I _could_ see were just as bizarre. Paper airplanes of all different sizes and shapes sped around, and other wind nymphs, aurai, would occasionally pluck them out of the air, unfold and read them, then toss them back into the air, where the planes would refold themselves and keep flying.  
  
An ugly creature fluttered past. She looked like a mix between an old lady and a chicken on steroids. She had a wrinkled face with black hair tied in a hairnet, arms like a human plus wings like a chicken, and a fat, feathered body with talons for feet. It was amazing she could fly at all. She kept drifting around and bumping into things like a parade balloon.  
  
“Not an aura?” I asked Mellie as the creature wobbled by.  
  
Mellie laughed. “That’s a harpy, of course. Our, ah, ugly stepsisters, I suppose you would say. Don’t you have harpies on Olympus? They’re spirits of violent gusts, unlike us aurai. We’re all gentle breezes.”  
  
She batted her eyes at me.  
  
“’Course you are,” I said.

"So, Aeolus?" Chrissie prompted, seeming kind of annoyed.  
  
Mellie led us through a set of doors like an airlock. Above the interior door, a green light blinked.  
  
“We have a few minutes before he starts,” Mellie said cheerfully. “He probably won’t kill you if we go in now. Come along!”


	26. Chapter 26

**CHRISSIE**

Next to me, Jason's jaw dropped. The central section of Aeolus’s fortress was as big as a cathedral, with a soaring domed roof covered in silver. Television equipment floated randomly through the air - cameras, spotlights, set pieces, potted plants. And there was no floor. Leo almost fell into the chasm before Jason pulled him back.  
  
“Holy-!” Leo gulped. “Hey, Mellie. A little warning next time!”

An enormous circular pit plunged into the heart of the mountain. It was probably half a mile deep, honeycombed with caves. Some of the tunnels probably led straight outside. I remembered seeing winds blast out of them when we’d been on Pikes Peak. Other caves were sealed with some glistening material like glass or wax. The whole cavern bustled with harpies, aurai, and paper airplanes, but for someone who couldn’t fly - like me - it would be a very long, very fatal fall.  
  
“Oh, my,” Mellie gasped. “I’m so sorry.” She unclipped a walkie-talkie from somewhere inside her robes and spoke into it: “Hello, sets? Is that Nuggets? Hi, Nuggets. Could we get a floor in the main studio, please? Yes, a solid one. Thanks.”  
  
A few seconds later, an army of harpies rose from the pit - three dozen or so demon chicken ladies, all carrying squares of various building material. They went to work hammering and gluing - and using large quantities of duct tape, which didn’t reassure me. In no time there was a makeshift floor snaking out over the chasm. It was made of plywood, marble blocks, carpet squares, wedges of grass sod—just about anything.  
  
“That can’t be safe,” Jason said.  
  
“Oh, it is!” Mellie assured him. “The harpies are very good.”  
  
Easy for her to say. She just drifted across without touching the floor. Jason followed her, and amazingly, the floor held.

I stepped out next, grabbing his hand and clinging onto it for dear life.

"This thing breaks, you're saving me, Blondie."  
  
“Uh, sure.” Jason blushed a little as I spoke.  
  
Leo stepped out next. “You’re catching me, too, Superman. But I ain’t holding your hand.”

I turned to grin at him, and I caught sight of Piper, who - for someone who'd had a Mist relationship with him for months - seemed very pleased to see me holding Jason's hand. Must be a daughter-of-Aphrodite thing or something.  
  
Mellie led us toward the middle of the chamber, where a loose sphere of flat-panel video screens floated around a kind of control center. A man hovered inside, checking monitors and reading paper airplane messages.  
  
The man paid us no attention as Mellie brought us forward. She pushed a forty-two-inch Sony out of our way and led us into the control area.  
  
Leo whistled. “I got to get a room like this.”  
  
The floating screens showed all sorts of television programs. Some of them were regular mortal stuff - news broadcasts, mostly - but some were Hephaestus TV. Gladiators fighting, demigods battling monsters, etc. One of them even showed Clarisse blowing up the Hydra we encountered on our quest for the Golden Fleece, back when Grover was missing.

At the far end of the sphere was a silky blue backdrop like a cinema screen, with cameras and studio lights floating around it.  
  
The man in the center was talking into an earpiece phone. He had a remote control in each hand and was pointing them at various screens, seemingly at random.  
  
He wore a business suit that looked like the sky - blue mostly, but dappled with clouds that changed and darkened and moved across the fabric. He looked like he was in his sixties, with a shock of white hair, but he had a ton of stage makeup on, and that smooth plastic-surgery look to his face, so he appeared not really young, not really old, just wrong - like a Ken doll someone had halfway melted in a microwave. His eyes darted back and forth from screen to screen, like he was trying to absorb everything at once. He muttered things into his phone, and his mouth kept twitching. He was either amused, or crazy, or both.  
  
Mellie floated toward him. “Ah, sir, Mr. Aeolus, these demigods-”  
  
“Hold it!” He held up a hand to silence her, then pointed at one of the screens. “Watch!”  
  
It was one of those storm-chaser programs, where insane thrill-seekers drive after tornados. As we watched, a Jeep plowed straight into a funnel cloud and got tossed into the sky.  
  
Aeolus shrieked with delight. “The Disaster Channel. People do that on purpose!” He turned toward Jason with a mad grin. “Isn’t that amazing? Let’s watch it again.”  
  
“Um, sir,” Mellie said, “this is Jason, son of-”  
  
“Yes, yes, I remember,” Aeolus said. “You’re back. How did it go?”  
  
Jason hesitated. “Sorry? I think you’ve mistaken me-”  
  
“No, no, Jason Grace, aren’t you? It was - what - last year? You were on your way to fight a sea monster, I believe.”  
  
“I- I don’t remember.”  
  
Aeolus laughed. “Must not have been a very good sea monster! No, I remember every hero who’s ever come to me for aid. Odysseus - gods, he docked at my island for a month! At least you only stayed a few days. Now, watch this video. These ducks get sucked straight into-”  
  
“Sir,” Mellie interrupted. “Two minutes to air.”  
  
“Air!” Aeolus exclaimed. “I love air. How do I look? Makeup!”  
  
Immediately a small tornado of brushes, blotters, and cotton balls descended on Aeolus. They blurred across his face in a cloud of flesh-tone smoke until his coloration was even more gruesome than before. Wind swirled through his hair and left it sticking up like a frosted Christmas tree.  
  
“Mr. Aeolus.” Jason slipped off the golden backpack. “We brought you these rogue storm spirits.”  
  
“Did you!” Aeolus looked at the bag like it was a gift from a fan - something he really didn’t want. “Well, how nice.”  
  
Leo nudged him, and Jason offered the bag. “Boreas sent us to capture them for you. We hope you’ll accept them and stop - you know - ordering demigods to be killed.”  
  
Aeolus laughed, and looked incredulously at Mellie. “Demigods be killed - did I order that?”  
  
Mellie checked her computer tablet. “Yes, sir, fifteenth of September. ‘Storm spirits released by the death of Typhon, demigods to be held responsible,’ etc... yes, a general order for them all to be killed. Priority death order for the daughter of Poseidon that fabricated the plan which lead to the defeat of Typhon - Christina Jackson.”

Everyone's eyes turned to me, but Aeolus didn't seem to think anything of it.

“Oh, pish,” he said. “I was just grumpy. Rescind that order, Mellie, and um, who’s on guard duty - Teriyaki? - Teri, take these storm spirits down to cell block Fourteen E, will you?”  
  
A harpy swooped out of nowhere, snatched the golden bag, and spiraled into the abyss.  
  
Aeolus grinned at me. “Now, sorry about that kill-on-sight business. But gods, I really was mad, wasn’t I?” His face suddenly darkened, and his suit did the same, the lapels flashing with lightning. “You know... I remember now. Almost seemed like a voice was telling me to give that order. A little cold tingle on the back of my neck.”  
  
I tensed. “A... um, voice in your head, sir?”  
  
“Yes. How odd. Mellie, should we kill them?”  
  
“No, sir,” she said patiently. “They just brought us the storm spirits, which makes everything all right.”  
  
“Of course.” Aeolus laughed. “Sorry. Mellie, let’s send the demigods something nice. A box of chocolates, perhaps.”  
  
“A box of chocolates to every demigod in the world, sir?”  
  
“No, too expensive. Never mind. Wait, it’s time! I’m on!”  
  
Aeolus flew off toward the blue screen as newscast music started to play.  
  
Jason looked at us, blinking in confusion.  
  
“Mellie,” he said, “is he... always like that?”  
  
She smiled sheepishly. “Well, you know what they say. If you don’t like his mood, wait five minutes. That expression ‘whichever way the wind blows’ - that was based on him.”  
  
“And that thing about the sea monster,” Jason said. “Was I here before?”  
  
Mellie blushed. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember. I’m Mr. Aeolus’s new assistant. I’ve been with him longer than most, but still - not that long.”  
  
“How long do his assistants usually last?” Piper asked.  
  
"Oh...” Mellie thought for a moment. “I’ve been doing this for... twelve hours?”  
  
A voice blared from floating speakers: “And now, weather every twelve minutes! Here’s your forecaster for Olympian Weather - the OW! channel - Aeolus!”  
  
Lights blazed on Aeolus, who was now standing in front of the blue screen. His smile was unnaturally white, and he looked like he’d had so much caffeine his face was about to explode.  
  
“Hello, Olympus! Aeolus, master of the winds here, with weather every twelve! We’ll have a low-pressure system moving over Florida today, so expect milder temperatures since Demeter wishes to spare the citrus farmers!” He gestured at the blue screen, but when I checked the monitors, I saw that a digital image was being projected behind Aeolus, so it looked like he was standing in front of a U.S. map with animated smiley suns and frowny storm clouds. “Along the eastern seaboard - oh, hold on.” He tapped his earpiece. “Sorry, folks! Poseidon is angry with Miami today, so it looks like that Florida freeze is back on! Sorry, Demeter. Over in the Midwest, I’m not sure what St. Louis did to offend Zeus, but you can expect winter storms! Boreas himself is being called down to punish the area with ice. Bad news, Missouri! No, wait. Hephaestus feels sorry for central Missouri, so you all will have much more moderate temperatures and sunny skies.”  
  
Aeolus kept going like that - forecasting each area of the country and changing his prediction two or three times as he got messages over his earpiece - the gods apparently putting in orders for various winds and weather.  
  
“This can’t be right,” Jason whispered. “Weather isn’t this random.”

I smirked at him. "How often do you see the weather acting like predicted, Grace? Mortal weathermen talk about a bunch of science-y crap, but the weather always surprises them anyway. At least Aeolus is honest about why it's so unpredictable."

Mellie nodded, looking mildly impressed. “It's a very hard job, trying to appease all the gods at once. It’s enough to drive anyone...”  
  
She trailed off, but we all knew what she meant. Mad. Aeolus was completely mad.  
  
“And that’s the weather,” Aeolus concluded. “See you in twelve minutes, because I’m sure it’ll change!”  
  
The lights shut off, the video monitors went back to random coverage, and just for a moment, Aeolus’s face sagged with weariness. Then he seemed to remember he had guests, and he put a smile back on.  
  
“So, you brought me some rogue storm spirits,” Aeolus said. “I suppose... thanks! And did you want something else? I assume so. Demigods always do.”  
  
Mellie said, “Um, sir, this is Zeus’s son.”  
  
“Yes, yes. I know that. I said I remembered him from before.”  
  
“But, sir, they’re here from Olympus.”  
  
Aeolus looked stunned. Then he laughed so abruptly, Jason flinched. “You mean you’re here on behalf of your father this time? Finally! I knew they would send someone to renegotiate my contract!”  
  
“Um, what?” Jason asked.  
  
“Oh, thank goodness!” Aeolus sighed with relief. “It’s been what, three thousand years since Zeus made me master of the winds. Not that I’m ungrateful, of course! But really, my contract is so vague. Obviously I’m immortal, but ‘master of the winds.’ What does that mean? Am I a nature spirit? A demigod? A god? I want to be god of the winds, because the benefits are so much better. Can we start with that?”  
  
Jason looked at us, mystified.  
  
“Dude,” Leo said, “you think we’re here to promote you?”

“You are, then?” Aeolus grinned. His business suit turned completely blue - not a cloud in the fabric. “Marvelous! I mean, I think I’ve shown quite a bit of initiative with the weather channel, eh? And of course I’m in the press all the time. So many books have been written about me: Into Thin Air, Up in the Air, Gone with the Wind-”  
  
“Er, I don’t think those are about you,” Jason said. Naturally, I elbowed him in the ribs for that one.  
  
“Nonsense,” Aeolus said. “Mellie, they’re biographies of me, aren’t they?”  
  
“Absolutely, sir,” she squeaked.  
  
“There, you see? I don’t read. Who has time? But obviously the mortals love me. So, we’ll change my official title to god of the winds. Then, about salary and staff-”  
  
“Sir,” Jason said, “we’re not from Olympus.”  
  
Aeolus blinked. “But-”  
  
“I’m the son of Zeus, yes,” Jason said, “but we’re not here to negotiate your contract. We’re on a quest and we need your help.”  
  
Aeolus’s expression hardened. “Like last time? Like every hero who comes here? Demigods! It’s always about you, isn’t it?”  
  
“Sir, please, I don’t remember last time, but if you helped me once before-”  
  
“I’m always helping! Well, sometimes I’m destroying, but mostly I’m helping, and sometimes I’m asked to do both at the same time! Why, Aeneas, the first of your kind-”  
  
“My kind?” Jason asked. “You mean, demigods?”  
  
“Oh, please!” Aeolus said. “I mean your line of demigods. You know, Aeneas, son of Venus - the only surviving hero of Troy. When the Greeks burned down his city, he escaped to Italy, where he founded the kingdom that would eventually become Rome, blah, blah, blah. That’s what I meant.”  
  
“I don’t get it,” Jason admitted. My mind, however, was going a thousand miles per second. Troy, Rome, Jason's 'line of demigods', the purple shirts, the Latin...  
  
Aeolus rolled his eyes. “The point being, I was thrown in the middle of that conflict, too! Juno calls up: ‘Oh, Aeolus, destroy Aeneas’s ships for me. I don’t like him.’ Then Neptune says, ‘No, you don’t! That’s my territory. Calm the winds.’ Then Juno is like, ‘No, wreck his ships, or I’ll tell Jupiter you’re uncooperative!’ Do you think it’s easy juggling requests like that?”  
  
“No,” Jason said. “I guess not.”  
  
“And don’t get me started on Amelia Earhart! I’m still getting angry calls from Olympus about knocking her out of the sky!”  
  
“We just want information,” Piper said in her most calming voice. “We hear you know everything.”  
  
Aeolus straightened his lapels and looked slightly mollified. “Well... that’s true, of course. For instance, I know that this business here” 0 he waggled his fingers at the four of us - “this harebrained scheme of Juno’s to bring you all together is likely to end in bloodshed. As for you, Piper McLean, I know your father is in serious trouble.” He held out his hand, and a scrap of paper fluttered into his grasp. It was a photo of Piper with a guy who must’ve been her dad. I couldn't see very well from here, but I recognized the face form the action movies Percy would always drag me to.  
  
Piper took the photo. Her hands were shaking. “This- this is from his wallet.”  
  
“Yes,” Aeolus said. “All things lost in the wind eventually come to me. The photo blew away when the Earthborn captured him.”  
  
“The what?” Piper asked.  
  
Aeolus waved aside the question and narrowed his eyes at Leo. “Now, you, son of Hephaestus... yes, I see your future.” Another paper fell into the wind god’s hands - an old tattered drawing done in crayons.  
  
Leo took it as if it might be coated in poison. He staggered backward.  
  
“Leo?” Jason said. “What is it?”  
  
“Something I- I drew when I was a kid.” He folded it quickly and put it in his coat. “It’s... yeah, it’s nothing.”  
  
Aeolus laughed. “Really? Just the key to your success! And Christina Jackson, I suppose I should give you this."

He handed me a little wallet-looking book, and I recognized it instantly. I snatched it out of his hand and opened it to confirm my suspicions, almost gasping when I saw the picture I was looking for.

"Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you wanted information. Are you sure about that? Sometimes information can be dangerous.”  
  
He smiled at Jason like he was issuing a challenge. Behind Aeolus, Mellie shook her head in warning.  
  
“Yeah,” Jason said. “We need to find the lair of Enceladus.”  
  
Aeolus’s smile melted. “The giant? Why would you want to go there? He’s horrible! He doesn’t even watch my program!”  
  
Piper held up the photo. “Aeolus, he’s got my father. We need to rescue him and find out where Hera is being held captive.”  
  
“Now, that’s impossible,” Aeolus said. “Even I can’t see that, and believe me, I’ve tried. There’s a veil of magic over Hera’s location - very strong, impossible to locate.”  
  
“She’s at a place called the Wolf House,” Jason said.  
  
“Hold on!” Aeolus put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. “I’m getting something! Yes, she’s at a place called the Wolf House! Sadly, I don’t know where that is.”  
  
“Enceladus does,” Piper persisted. “If you help us find him, we could get the location of the goddess-"

“Yeah,” Leo said, catching on. “And if we save her, she’d be really grateful to you-”

"And everyone knows she has Zeus' ear," I added.  
  
“So he might promote you,” Jason finished.  
  
Aeolus’s eyebrows crept up. “A promotion - and all you want from me is the giant’s location?”

“Well, if you could get us there, too,” Jason amended, “that would be great.”  
  
Mellie clapped her hands in excitement. “Oh, he could do that! He often sends helpful winds-”  
  
“Mellie, quiet!” Aeolus snapped. “I have half a mind to fire you for letting these people in under false pretenses.”  
  
Her face paled. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”  
  
“It wasn’t her fault,” Jason said. “But about that help...”  
  
Aeolus tilted his head as if thinking. Then Jason realized the wind lord was listening to voices in his earpiece.  
  
“Well... Zeus approves,” Aeolus muttered. “He says... he says it would be better if you could avoid saving her until after the weekend, because he has a big party planned - Ow! That’s Aphrodite yelling at him, reminding him that the solstice starts at dawn. She says I should help you. And Hephaestus... yes. Hmm. Very rare they agree on anything. Poseidon is in favor, and so is Demeter. Hold on...”

I smiled at the mention of my dad. Finally, we were having some good luck. Our godly parents were standing up for us.  
  
Back toward the entrance, I heard a loud belch. Coach Hedge waddled in from the lobby, grass all over his face. Mellie saw him coming across the makeshift floor and caught her breath. “Who is that?”  
  
Jason stifled a cough. “That? That’s just Coach Hedge. Uh, Gleeson Hedge. He’s our...” Jason trailed off  
  
“Our guide,” I offered.  
  
“He’s so goatly,” Mellie murmured.  
  
Behind her, Piper poofed out her cheeks, pretending to vomit. I tried to suppress a laugh, and ended up snorting.  
  
“What’s up, guys?” Hedge trotted over. “Wow, nice place. Oh! Sod squares.”  
  
“Coach, you just ate,” Jason said. “And we’re using the sod as a floor. This is, ah, Mellie-”  
  
“An aura.” Hedge smiled winningly. “Beautiful as a summer breeze.”  
  
Mellie blushed.  
  
“And Aeolus here was just about to help us,” Jason said.  
  
“Yes,” the wind lord muttered. “It seems so. You’ll find Enceladus on Mount Diablo.”  
  
“Devil Mountain?” Leo asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”  
  
“I remember that place!” Piper said. “I went there once with my dad. It’s just east of San Francisco Bay.”  
  
“The Bay Area again?” The coach shook his head. “Not good. Not good at all.”  
  
“Now...” Aeolus began to smile. “As to getting you there-”  
  
Suddenly his face went slack. He bent over and tapped his earpiece as if it were malfunctioning. When he straightened again, his eyes were wild. Despite the makeup, he looked like an old man - an old, very frightened man. “She hasn’t spoke to me for centuries. I can’t- yes, yes I understand.”  
  
He swallowed, regarding Jason as if he had suddenly turned into a giant cockroach. “I’m sorry, son of Jupiter. New orders. You all have to die.”  
  
Mellie squeaked. “But- but, sir! Zeus said to help them. Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hephaestus-”  
  
“Mellie!” Aeolus snapped. “Your job is already on the line. Besides, there are some orders that transcend even the wishes of the gods, especially when it comes to the forces of nature.”  
  
“Whose orders?” Jason said. “Zeus will fire you if you don’t help us!”  
  
“I doubt it.” Aeolus flicked his wrist, and far below them, a cell door opened in the pit. I could hear storm spirits screaming out of it, spiraling up toward us, howling for blood.  
  
“Even Zeus understands the order of things,” Aeolus said. “And if she is waking - by all the gods - she cannot be denied. Good-bye, heroes. I’m terribly sorry, but I’ll have to make this quick. I’m back on the air in four minutes.”  
  
I shook my daggers out of their handles. Jason summoned his sword. Coach Hedge pulled out his club. Mellie the aura yelled, “No!”  
  
She dived at our feet just as the storm spirits hit with hurricane force, blasting the floor to pieces, shredding the carpet samples and marble and linoleum into what should’ve been lethal projectiles, had Mellie’s robes not spread out like a shield and absorbed the brunt of the impact. The six of us fell into the pit, and Aeolus screamed above us, “Mellie, you are so fired!”  
  
“Quick,” Mellie yelled. “Son of Zeus, do you have any power over the air?”  
  
“A little!”  
  
“Then help me, or you’re all dead!” Mellie grabbed his hand, and they tried to regain control of the winds. The storm spirits were following us down, closing rapidly, bringing with us a cloud of deadly shrapnel.  
  
Jason grabbed my hand. “Group hug!”  
  
Hedge, Leo, Piper and I tried to huddle together, hanging on to Jason and Mellie as we fell.  
  
“This is NOT GOOD!” Leo yelled.

"NO SHIT!" I yelled back  
  
“Bring it on, gas bags!” Hedge yelled up at the storm spirits. “I’ll pulverize you!”  
  
“He’s magnificent,” Mellie sighed.  
  
“Concentrate?” Jason prompted.

“Right!” she said.  
  
They channeled the wind so our fall became more of a tumble into the nearest open chute. Still, we slammed into the tunnel at painful speed and went rolling over each other down a steep vent that was not designed for people. There was no way we could stop.  
  
Mellie’s robes billowed around her. We all clung to her desperately, and they began to slow down, but the storm spirits were screaming into the tunnel behind us.  
  
“Can’t- hold- long,” Mellie warned. “Stay together! When the winds hit-”  
  
“You’re doing great, Mellie,” Hedge said. “My own mama was an aura, you know. She couldn’t have done better herself.”  
  
“Iris-message me?” Mellie pleaded.  
  
Hedge winked.  
  
“Could you guys plan your date later?” Piper screamed. “Look!”  
  
Behind us, the tunnel was turning dark. I could feel my ears pop as the pressure built.  
  
“Can’t hold them,” Mellie warned. “But I’ll try to shield you, do you one more favor.”  
  
“Thanks, Mellie,” Jason said. “I hope you get a new job.”  
  
She smiled, and then dissolved, wrapping us in a warm gentle breeze. Then the real winds hit, shooting us into the sky so fast, I blacked out.


	27. Chapter 27

**JASON**

I woke up when Piper yelled "Mother!" and bumped the table with my knee, startling the others awake as well. I blinked, trying to get my bearings - a table at a sidewalk cafe, the surrounding scene hinting at California - and focused on Chrissie. I almost choked.

"What are you wearing?"

Chrissie was decked out in the dark, near-black navy blue jacket she'd been wearing the entire quest - it occurred to me that it was probably her brother's, as it was way too big on her short frame. Underneath, though, she had on a large black shirt with white stars and constellations on it, tucked into tight black skinny jeans that sat high on her waist, with mismatched socks - one black, one white - peeking out over the spiky combat boots she'd also been wearing this whole time. She grabbed her wrist, and sighed in relief when she brought the bracelet Percy got her out of the sleeve. I noticed, due to her hair being pulled back into a freshly done braid, that there were now matching starfish earrings in the bottom set of piercings in her ears. The rest of the holes had various little rings and knobs in them, as did her nose piercing, which pulled attention to her red lipstick and the pastel blue eyeliner that brought out that little line of brown amidst the green of her eyes. All in all, the new clothes was casual enough to suit her, but I was still probably blushing from how cute she looked.

We all looked at Piper, who was wearing a turquoise dress with black leggings and black leather boots, along with the snowboarding outfit she wore when she first came to camp. Her hair was done, and she had on a charm bracelet that she smiled at. When she pulled out her dagger and looked at herself, she hesitated.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “It’s my- It’s nothing.”  
  
Leo grinned. “Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You’re gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen.”  
  
“Hey, Leo.” I nudged his arm. “You look at yourself recently?”  
  
“What... oh.”  
  
All of us had been give a makeover. Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.  
  
“God, Leo.” Piper tried not to laugh. “I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt.”  
  
“Hey, shut up!”  
  
“I think he looks good,” said Coach Hedge. “’Course, I look better.”  
  
The satyr was a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.

“Well,” I said, “at least your mom overlooked me.”

I was dressed simply in jeans and a clean purple T-shirt, like I’d worn at the Grand Canyon. I had new track shoes on, and when I ran my hand through my hair, it felt a little shorter than before. I glanced at Chrissie again, and she winked at me.  
  
“So, simple question,” she said, “how did we get here?”  
  
“Oh, that would be Mellie,” Hedge said, chewing happily on his carnation. “Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I’d guess. We would’ve been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie’s last gift - a nice soft breeze - cushioned our fall.”  
  
“And she got fired for us,” Leo said. “Man, we suck.”  
  
“Ah, she’ll be fine,” Hedge said. “Besides, she couldn’t help herself. I’ve got that effect on nymphs. I’ll send her a message when we’re through with this quest and help her figure something out. That is one aura I could settle down with and raise a herd of baby goats.”  
  
“I’m going to be sick,” Piper said. “Anyone else want coffee?”  
  
“Coffee!” Hedge’s grin was stained blue from the flower. “I love coffee!”  
  
“Um,” I said, “but- money? Our packs?”  
  
Everyone looked down. The packs were at our feet, and everything seemed to still be there. Piper reached into her pocked and pulled out a wad of cash.

Leo whistled. “Allowance? Piper, your mom rocks!”  
  
“Waitress!” Hedge called. “Six double espressos, and whatever these guys want. Put it on the girl’s tab.”  
  
It didn’t take us long to figure out where we were. The menus said “Café Verve, Walnut Creek, CA.” And according to the waiter, it was 9 a.m. on December 21, the winter solstice, which gave us three hours until Enceladus’s deadline.  
  
We didn’t have to wonder where Mount Diablo was, either. We could see it on the horizon, right at the end of the street. After the Rockies, Mount Diablo didn’t look very large, nor was it covered in snow. It seemed downright peaceful, its golden creases marbled with gray-green trees. But size was deceptive with mountains, I knew. It was probably much bigger up close. And appearances were deceptive too. Here we were - back in California - with sunny skies, mild weather, laid-back people, and a plate of chocolate chip scones with coffee. And only a few miles away, somewhere on that peaceful mountain, a super-powerful, super-evil giant was about to have Piper's father for lunch.  
  
Leo pulled something out of his pocket - the old crayon drawing Aeolus had given him. Aphrodite must’ve thought it was important if she’d magically transferred it to his new outfit.  
  
“What is that?” Piper asked.  
  
Leo folded it up gingerly again and put it away. “Nothing. You don’t want to see my kindergarten artwork.”  
  
“It’s more than that,” Jason guessed. “Aeolus said it was the key to our success.”  
  
Leo shook his head. “Not today. He was talking about... later.”  
  
“How can you be sure?” Piper asked.  
  
“Trust me,” Leo said. He looked uncomfortable, but the waiter came back with a refill for Chrissie's iced tea.

"Oh, I didn't order that," she protested, but the waiter simply winked at her. "On the house, sweetheart."

He left before his comment could fully settle into her brain, which was probably good, because she looked like she was about to stab him in the eye with one of the small knives that came with the scones and butter. She frowned, and the table shook a bit, the cups rattling. I quickly connected the dots and jumped in, using the first topic I could find.

"What did Aeolus give you?" At my words, the table (and the ground) stopped moving and she snapped her head up.

"Oh, it's, uh, this little thing Percy kept his favorite photos in. He always said he liked to have good memories with him at all times, but he must've lost it or something..." She brought it out of her pocket and took some of the photos out of the little plastic slots. One was her, at a very young age, playing a card game at a wooden table with the beach in the background. Her hair was just as short and messy as her brother's, whose face I couldn't quite see on the other side of the table due to the wind sweeping the same colour of black hair as hers into his face. Another was her and Annabeth, at the movies, laughing at each other with the classic red-and-white striped popcorn buckets in their hands. One was just Annabeth, standing in front of the Washington Monument, though she was considerably younger. The last one she showed us was a woman with slightly greying hair and a kind face, standing in the kitchen next to a salt-and-pepper -haired man a little bit taller than her. The woman - who must've been their mother - was grinning at the man, the same smile-y crinkles around her eyes as Chrissie had.

"Anyway," she said, stuffing the pictures back in the credit card holder-looking wallet thingy, "We gotta figure out a game plan."

Coach Hedge belched. He’d already had three espressos and a plate of doughnuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would’ve eaten the silverware, except Piper had slapped his hand.  
  
“Climb the mountain,” Hedge said. “Kill everything except Piper’s dad. Leave.”  
  
“Thank you, General Eisenhower,” I grumbled.  
  
“Hey, I’m just saying!”  
  
“Guys,” Piper said. “There’s more you need to know.”

She obviously left out some stuff - probably couldn't mention her mom - but she told us she’d figured some things out in her dreams. She told us about our real enemy: Gaea.

I looked at Chrissie, who was staring at the table. "You knew, didn't you?"

She looked up at me.

"Yes." She closed her eyes and dropped her head down. "I'm sorry, guys. But it was for the best, and besides, this theory Annabeth and I came up with was just that - a theory. We had no confirmation until now. But... yes. I suspected it was her."  
  
“But Gaea?” Leo shook his head. “Isn’t that Mother Nature? She’s supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her and deer and rabbits doing her laundry.”  
  
“Leo, that’s Snow White,” Piper said.  
  
“Okay, but-”  
  
“Listen, cupcake.” Coach Hedge dabbed the espresso out of his goatee. “Piper’s telling us some serious stuff, here. Gaea’s no softie. I’m not even sure I could take her.”  
  
Leo whistled. “Really?”  
  
Hedge nodded. “This earth lady - she and her old man the sky were nasty customers.”  
  
“Ouranos,” Piper said. She looked up at the blue sky.

“Right,” Hedge said. “So Ouranos, he’s not the best dad. He throws their first kids, the Cyclopes, into Tartarus. That makes Gaea mad, but she bides her time. Then they have another set of kids - the twelve Titans - and Gaea is afraid they’ll get thrown into prison too. So she goes up to her son Kronos-”  
  
“The big bad dude,” Leo said. “The one they defeated last summer.”  
  
“Right. And Gaea’s the one who gives him the scythe, and tells him, ‘Hey, why don’t I call your dad down here? And while he’s talking to me, distracted, you can cut him to pieces. Then you can take over the world. Wouldn’t that be great?’”  
  
Nobody said anything. My chocolate chip scone didn’t look so appetizing anymore. I felt sparks of recognition at the story, but I still couldn’t quite get my mind around it. I tried to imagine a kid so messed up, he would kill his own dad just for power. Then I imagined a mom so messed up, she would convince her son to do it.  
  
“Definitely not Snow White,” Piper decided.  
  
“Nah, Kronos was a bad guy,” Hedge said. “But Gaea is literally the mother of all bad guys. She’s so old and powerful, so huge, that it’s hard for her to be fully conscious. Most of the time, she sleeps, and that’s the way we like her - snoring.”

“But she talked to me,” Leo said. “How can she be asleep?”  
  
Gleeson brushed crumbs off his canary yellow lapel. He was on his sixth espresso now, and his pupils were as big as quarters. “Even in her sleep, part of her consciousness is active - dreaming, keeping watch, doing little things like causing volcanoes to explode and monsters to rise. Even now, she’s not fully awake. Believe me, you don’t want to see her fully awake.”

"But she's obviously getting more powerful," Chrissie said. "She's causing the giants to rise, and if their king Porphyrion comes back-"  
  
“He’ll raise an army to destroy the gods,” I put in. “Starting with Hera. It’ll be another war. And Gaea will wake up fully.”  
  
Gleeson nodded. “Which is why it’s a good idea for us to stay off the ground as much as possible.”  
  
Leo looked warily at Mount Diablo. “So... climbing a mountain. That would be bad.”

“Guys, I can’t ask you to do this,” Piper said. “This is too dangerous.”  
  
“You kidding?” Gleeson belched and showed them his blue carnation smile. “Who’s ready to beat stuff up?”


	28. Chapter 28

**LEO**

I'd hoped the taxi could take us all the way to the top.  
  
No such luck. The cab made lurching, grinding sounds as it climbed the mountain road, and halfway up we found the ranger’s station closed, a chain blocking the way.  
  
“Far as I can go,” the cabbie said. “You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car’s acting funny. I can’t wait for you.”  
  
“We’re sure.” I was the first one out. I had a bad feeling about what was wrong with the cab, and when I looked down I saw I was right. The wheels were sinking into the road like it was made of quicksand. Not fast - just enough to make the driver think he had a transmission problem or a bad axle - but I knew different.  
  
The road was hard-packed dirt. No reason at all it should have been soft, but already my shoes were starting to sink. Gaea was messing with us.  
  
While my friends got out, I paid the cabbie. I was generous - heck, why not? It was Aphrodite’s money. Plus, I had a feeling I might never be coming off this mountain.  
  
“Keep the change,” I said. “And get out of here. Quick.”  
  
The driver didn’t argue. Soon all we could see was his dust trail.  
  
The view from the mountain was pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo was a patchwork of towns - grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives - the kind I had never known.  
  
“That’s Concord,” Jason said, pointing to the north. “Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way...”  
  
He pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills held back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. “That’s the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco.”  
  
“Jase?” Chrissie touched his arm. “Are you remembering something? You think you’ve been here?”  
  
“Yes... no.” He gave her an anguished look. “It just seems important.”  
  
“That’s Titan land.” Coach Hedge nodded toward the west. “Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to ’Frisco as we want to get.”  
  
But Jason looked toward the foggy basin with such longing that I felt uneasy. Why did Jason seem so connected with that place - a place Hedge said was evil, full of bad magic and old enemies? What if Jason came from here? Everybody kept hinting Jason was an enemy, that his arrival at Camp Half-Blood was a dangerous mistake.  
  
No, I thought. Ridiculous. Jason was our friend.  
  
I tried to move my foot, but my heels were now completely embedded in the dirt.  
  
“Hey, guys,” I said. “Let’s keep moving.”  
  
The others noticed the problem.  
  
“Gaea is stronger here,” Hedge grumbled. He popped his hooves free from his shoes, then handed the shoes to me. “Keep those for me, Valdez. They’re nice.”  
  
I snorted. “Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?”  
  
“That’s varsity thinking, Valdez.” Hedge nodded approvingly. “But first, we’d better hike up this mountain while we still can.”  
  
“How do we know where the giant is?” Piper asked.  
  
Chrissie pointed toward the peak. Drifting across the summit was a plume of smoke. From a distance, I had thought it was a cloud, but it wasn’t. Something was burning.

“Smoke equals fire,” Jason caught on. “We’d better hurry.”  
  
The Wilderness School had taken me on several forced marches. I thought I was in good shape. But climbing a mountain when the earth was trying to swallow my feet was like jogging on a flypaper treadmill. Chrissie had it easy, she just shook the earth right underneath her feet a little to loosen it up every time she lifted her feet, but sadly, we were all walking on different paces, and shaking the earth the whole time was a bad idea - we didn't need a rock slide or something.  
  
In no time, I had rolled up the sleeves on my collarless shirt, even though the wind was cold and sharp. I wished Aphrodite had given me walking shorts and some more comfortable shoes, but I was grateful for the Ray-Bans that kept the sun out of my eyes. I slipped my hands into the tool belt and started summoning supplies - gears, a tiny wrench, some strips of bronze. As I walked, I built - not really thinking about it, just fiddling with pieces.  
  
By the time we neared the crest of the mountain, we were the most fashionably dressed sweaty, dirty heroes ever. My hands were covered in machine grease.  
  
The little object I’d made was like a windup toy - the kind that rattles and walks across a coffee table. I wasn’t sure what it could do, but I slipped it into the tool belt.  
  
I missed my army coat with all its pockets. Even more than that, I missed Festus. We could use a fire-breathing bronze dragon right now. But I knew Festus would not be coming back - at least, not in his old form.  
  
I patted the picture in my pocket - the crayon drawing I’d made at the picnic table under the pecan tree when I was five years old. I remembered Tía Callida singing as I worked, and how upset I’d been when the winds had snatched the picture away. _It isn’t time yet, little hero,_ Tía Callida had told him. _Someday, yes. You’ll have your quest. You will find your destiny, and your hard journey will finally make sense._  
  
Now Aeolus had returned the picture. I knew that meant my destiny was getting close; but the journey was as frustrating as this stupid mountain. Every time I thought we’d reached the summit, it turned out to be just another ridge with an even higher one behind it.  
  
 _First things first_ , I told myself. _Survive today. Figure out crayon drawing of destiny later._  
  
Finally Chrissie crouched behind a wall of rock. She gestured for the others to do the same. Jason sat down next to her, and I crawled up next to him. Piper had to pull Coach Hedge down.  
  
“I don’t want to get my outfit dirty!” Hedge complained.  
  
“Shhh!” Piper said.  
  
Reluctantly, the satyr knelt.  
  
Just over the ridge where we were hiding, in the shadow of the mountain’s final crest, was a forested depression about the size of a football field, where the giant Enceladus had set up camp.  
  
Trees had been cut down to make a towering purple bonfire. The outer rim of the clearing was littered with extra logs and construction equipment - an earthmover; a big crane thing with rotating blades at the end like an electric shaver - must be a tree harvester, I thought - and a long metal column with an ax blade, like a sideways guillotine - a hydraulic ax.  
  
Why a giant needed construction equipment, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t see how the creature in front of us could even fit in the driver’s seat. The giant Enceladus was so large, so horrible, I didn’t want to look at him.  
  
But I forced myself to focus on the monster.  
  
To start with, he was thirty feet tall - easily as tall as the treetops. I was sure the giant could’ve seen them behind their ridge, but he seemed intent on the weird purple bonfire, circling it and chanting under his breath. From the waist up, the giant appeared humanoid, his muscular chest clad in bronze armor, decorated with flame designs. His arms were completely ripped. Each of his biceps was bigger than me. His skin was bronze but sooty with ash. His face was crudely shaped, like a half-finished clay figure, but his eyes glowed white, and his hair was matted in shaggy dreadlocks down to his shoulders, braided with bones.  
  
From the waist down, he was even more terrifying. His legs were scaly green, with claws instead of feet - like the forelegs of a dragon. In his hand, Enceladus held a spear the size of a flagpole. Every so often he dipped its tip in the fire, turning the metal molten red.  
  
“Okay,” Coach Hedge whispered. “Here’s the pla-”  
  
I elbowed him. “You’re not charging him alone!”  
  
“Aw, c’mon.”  
  
Piper choked back a sob. “Look.”  
  
Just visible on the other side of the bonfire was a man tied to a post. His head slumped like he was unconscious, so I couldn’t make out his face, but Piper didn’t seem to have any doubts.  
  
“Dad,” she said.  
  
I swallowed. I wished this were a Tristan McLean movie. Then Piper’s dad would be faking unconsciousness. He’d untie his bonds and knock out the giant with some cleverly hidden anti-giant gas. Heroic music would start to play, and Tristan McLean would make his amazing escape, running away in slow motion while the mountainside exploded behind him.  
  
But this wasn’t a movie. Tristan McLean was half dead and about to be eaten. The only people who could stop it - four fashionably dressed teenaged demigods and a megalomaniac goat.  
  
“There’s four of us,” Hedge whispered urgently. “And only one of him.”  
  
“Did you miss the fact that he’s thirty feet tall?” I asked.

"Okay, game plan," Chrissie took over. "We gotta get a distraction going on. Pipes sneaks around and frees her dad. The rest of us keep the attention off of her. Don't engage in combat unless necessary, but be ready to fight at any time."  
  
We all looked at Jason.  
  
“What?” he asked. “I’m not the leader.”

“Yes,” Piper said. “You are.”  
  
We’d never really talked about it, but no one disagreed, not even Hedge. Coming this far had been a team effort, but when it came to a life-and-death decision, I knew Jason was the one to ask. Even if he had no memory, Jason had a kind of balance to him. You could just tell he’d been in battles before, and he knew how to keep his cool. The entire quest, he and Chrissie had been the one to make all of the big calls together, always making sure the other agreed. I wasn’t exactly the trusting type, but I trusted them with my life.  
  
“I hate to say it,” Jason finally sighed, “but Chrissie's is right. A distraction is Piper’s best chance.”  
  
 _Not a good chance,_ Leo thought. _Not even a survivable chance. Just the best chance._  
  
We couldn’t sit there all day and talk about it, though. It had to be close to noon - the giant’s deadline - and the ground was still trying to pull us down. My knees had already sunk two inches into the dirt.  
  
I looked at the construction equipment and got a crazy idea. I brought out the little toy I’d made on the climb, and I realized what it could do - if I was lucky, which I almost never was.  
  
“Let’s boogie,” I said. “Before I come to my senses.”


	29. Chapter 29

**CHRISSIE**

The plan went wrong almost immediately. Piper scrambled along the ridge, trying to keep her head down, while Leo, Jason, Coach Hedge and I walked straight into the clearing.  
  
Jason summoned his golden lance. He brandished it over his head and yelled, “Giant!” as I shook my dagger handles.  
  
Enceladus stopped chanting at the flames. He turned toward us and grinned, revealing fangs like a saber-toothed tiger’s.  
  
“Well,” the giant rumbled. “What a nice surprise.”  
  
Leo stepped sideways, edging his way toward the bulldozer.  
  
Coach Hedge shouted, “Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake! Or I’m gonna plant my hoof right up your-”  
  
“Coach,” I snapped. “Shut up.”  
  
Enceladus roared with laughter. “I’ve forgotten how funny satyrs are. When we rule the world, I think I’ll keep your kind around. You can entertain me while I eat all the other mortals.”  
  
“Is that a compliment?” Hedge frowned at Leo. “I don’t think that was a compliment.”  
  
Enceladus opened his mouth wide, and his teeth began to glow.  
  
“Scatter!” I yelled.  
  
We dove to the left as the giant blew fire - a furnace blast so hot even Festus would’ve been jealous. Leo dodged behind the bulldozer, stayed there for a moment, and ran to the right, heading for the some-other-machine-thing.

Jason and I shared a look, and I winked before charging at the giant. I heard Coach bleat “I liked that outfit!” from somewhere behind me before catching up to us.  
  
Before we could get very far, Enceladus slammed his spear against the ground. The entire mountain shook. I was the only one standing afterwards. The shockwave had sent Leo sprawling behind some grassfire and smoke. On my side, Jason was staggering to his feet, so I grabbed his arm to steady him.  
  
Hedge was knocked out cold. He’d fallen forward and hit his head on a log. His furry hindquarters were sticking straight up, with his canary yellow pants around his knees - a view none of us needed.  
  
The giant bellowed, “I see you, Piper McLean!” He turned and blew fire at a line of bushes left of Leo. Piper ran into the clearing like a flushed quail, the underbrush burning behind her.  
  
Enceladus laughed. “I’m happy you’ve arrived. And you brought me my prizes!”

I held my head high: just because we'd played right into Enceladus' hands, like Piper warned us about, didn't mean it'd end up going the Giant's way.  
  
The giant read Leo’s upset expression, and laughed even louder. “That’s right, son of Hephaestus. I didn’t expect you all to stay alive this long, but it doesn’t matter. By bringing you here, Piper McLean has sealed the deal. If she betrays you, I’m as good as my word. She can take her father and go. What do I care about a movie star?”  
  
I could see Piper’s dad more clearly now. He wore a ragged dress shirt and torn slacks. His bare feet were caked with mud. He wasn’t completely unconscious, because he lifted his head and groaned - yep, Tristan McLean all right. I had seen that face in enough movies. But he had a nasty cut down the side of his face, and he looked thin and sickly - not heroic at all.  
  
“Dad!” Piper yelled.  
  
Mr. McLean blinked, trying to focus. “Pipes...? Where...”  
  
Piper drew her dagger and faced Enceladus. “Let him go!”  
  
“Of course, dear,” the giant rumbled. “Swear your loyalty to me, and we have no problem. Only these others must die.”  
  
Piper looked back and forth between Leo and her dad.  
  
“He’ll kill you,” Leo warned. “Don’t trust him!”  
  
“Oh, come now,” Enceladus bellowed. “You know I was born to fight Athena herself? Mother Gaea made each of us giants with a specific purpose, designed to fight and destroy a particular god. I was Athena’s nemesis, the anti-Athena, you might say. Compared to some of my brethren - I am small! But I am clever. And I keep my bargain with you, Piper McLean. It’s part of my plan!”  
  
Jason was standing on his own now, lance ready; but before either of us could act, Enceladus roared - a call so loud it echoed down the valley and was probably heard all the way to San Francisco.  
  
At the edge the woods, half a dozen ogre-like creatures rose up. I realized with nauseating certainty that they hadn’t simply been hiding there. They’d risen straight out of the earth.

The ogres shuffled forward. They were small compared to Enceladus, about seven feet tall. Each one of them had six arms - one pair in the regular spot, then an extra pair sprouting out the top of their shoulders, and another set shooting from the sides of their rib cages. They wore only ragged leather loincloths, and even across the clearing, I could smell them. Six guys who never bathed, with six armpits each. I decided if we survived this day, I’d have to take a three-hour shower just to forget the stench.  
  
Leo stepped toward Piper. “What- what are those?”  
  
Her blade reflected the purple light of the bonfire. “Gegenees.”  
  
“In English?” Leo asked.  
  
“The Earthborn,” I supplied. “Six-armed giants who fought Jason - the first Jason.”  
  
“Very good, my dears!” Enceladus sounded delighted. “They used to live on a miserable place in Greece called Bear Mountain. Mount Diablo is much nicer! They are lesser children of Mother Earth, but they serve their purpose. They’re good with construction equipment-”  
  
“Vroom, vroom!” one of the Earthborn bellowed, and the others took up the chant, each moving his six hands as though driving a car, as if it were some kind of weird religious ritual. “Vroom, vroom!”  
  
“Yes, thank you, boys,” Enceladus said. “They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason.”  
  
“Yay-son!” the Earthborn screamed. They all picked up clumps of earth, which solidified in their hands, turning to nasty pointed stones. “Where Yay-son? Kill Yay-son!”  
  
Enceladus smiled. “You see, Piper, you have a choice. Save your father, or ah, try to save your friends and face certain death.”  
  
Piper stepped forward. Her eyes blazed with such rage, even the Earthborn backed away. She radiated power and beauty, but it had nothing to do with her clothes or her makeup.  
  
“You will not take the people I love,” she said. “None of them.”  
  
Her words rippled across the clearing with such force, the Earthborn muttered, “Okay. Okay, sorry,” and began to retreat.  
  
“Stand your ground, fools!” Enceladus bellowed. He snarled at Piper. “This is why we wanted you alive, my dear. You could have been so useful to us. But as you wish. Earth-born! I will show you Jason.”  
  
My heart sank. But the giant didn’t point to Jason. He pointed to the other side of the bonfire, where Tristan McLean hung helpless and half conscious.  
  
“There is Jason,” Enceladus said with pleasure. “Tear him apart!”  
  
My biggest surprise: One look between the four of us, and we all knew the game plan. When had that happened, that we could all read each other so well?  
  
Jason and I charged Enceladus, while Piper rushed to her father, and Leo dashed for the I-still-don't-know-what-that-machine-was, which stood between Mr. McLean and the Earthborn.  
  
Behind us somewhere, I could hear machines coming to life - Leo's doing, no doubt.

Coach Hedge was still heroically passed out with his goat tail sticking up in the air.

I threw one of the daggers like a throwing knife, summoning it back once it'd slashed Enceladus' side. It flew back into my hand, and I used both knives to slash across the backs of his ankles while Jason occupied himself with the Giant's front.

I could hear something about 'vroom-vroom', but forced myself not to get distracted.

The fight went on for seconds, minutes - it was hard to judge. I tried to crack the earth under Enceladus' feet, but it seemed that Gaia was helping him, countering me and helping the Giant move - he shouldn't have been this fast on his feet. I was so caught up in trying to use my powers, I allowed myself to lose focus on the fight itself for a moment too long, as the next thing I knew, I was swept sideways.


	30. Chapter 30

**JASON**

I knew I was dead when my spear shattered.  
  
The explosion was hotter than the giant’s breath, blinding me with golden light. The force knocked me off my feet and squeezed the breath out of me.  
  
When I regained my focus, I was sitting at the rim of a crater, next to where Chrissie lay, looking dazed and confused. Enceladus stood at the other side, staggering around. The javelin’s destruction had released so much energy, it had blasted a perfect cone-shaped pit thirty feet deep, fusing the dirt and rock into a slick glassy substance. I wasn’t sure how I’d survived, but my clothes were steaming. I was out of energy. I had no weapon. And Enceladus was still very much alive.  
  
I tried to get up, but my legs were like lead. Enceladus blinked at the destruction, then laughed. “Impressive! Unfortunately, that was your last trick, demigod.”  
  
Enceladus leaped the crater in a single bound, planting his feet on either side of me. The giant raised his spear, its tip hovering six feet over my chest.  
  
“And now,” Enceladus said, “my first sacrifice to Gaea!"

Time seemed to slow down, which was really frustrating, since I still couldn’t move. I felt myself sinking into the earth like the ground was a waterbed - comfortable, urging me to relax and give up. I wondered if the stories of the Underworld were true. Would I end up in the Fields of Punishment or Elysium? If I couldn’t remember any of my deeds, would they still count? I wondered if the judges would take that into consideration, or if my dad, Zeus, would write me a note: “Please excuse Jason from eternal damnation. He has had amnesia.”  
  
I couldn’t feel my arms. I could see the tip of the spear coming toward my chest in slow motion. I knew I should move, but I couldn’t seem to do it. _Funny_ , I thought. _All that effort to stay alive, and then, boom_. You just lie there helplessly while a fire-breathing giant impales you.  
  
Leo’s voice yelled, “Heads up!”  
  
A large black metal wedge slammed into Enceladus with a massive _thunk_! The giant toppled over and slid into the pit.  
  
“Guys, get up!” Piper called. Her voice energized me, shook me out of his stupor. I sat up, head groggy, while Piper hauled Chrissie over. She grabbed me under my arms and hauled me to his feet.

"Don't you dare die on me, Blondie," she ordered.  
  
“Okay.” I felt light-headed, but she was about the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her braid was smoldering at the tip. Her red lipstick was smudged. Her pants were ripped at both knees, she was covered in scratches, and one of her many earrings fell out as I looked at her. Beautiful.  
  
About a hundred feet behind her, Leo was standing over a piece of construction equipment - a long, cannon-like thing with a single massive piston, the edge broken clean off.  
  
Then I looked down in the crater and saw where the other end of the hydraulic ax had gone. Enceladus was struggling to rise, an ax blade the size of a washing machine stuck in his breastplate.  
  
Amazingly, the giant managed to pull the ax blade free. He yelled in pain and the mountain trembled. Golden ichor soaked the front of his armor, but Enceladus stood.  
  
Shakily, he bent down and retrieved his spear.  
  
“Good try.” The giant winced. “But I cannot be beaten.”  
  
As they watched, the giant’s armor mended itself, and the ichor stopped flowing. Even the cuts on his dragon-scale legs, which we had worked so hard to make, were now just pale scars.  
  
Leo ran up to us, saw the giant, and cursed. “What is it with this guy? Die, already!”  
  
“My fate is preordained,” Enceladus said. “Giants cannot be killed by gods or heroes.”  
  
“Only by both,” I said. The giant’s smile faltered, and I saw in his eyes something like fear. “It’s true, isn’t it? Gods and demigods have to work together to kill you.”  
  
“You will not live long enough to try!” The giant started stumbling up the crater’s slope, slipping on the glassy sides.  
  
“Anyone have a god handy?” Leo asked. Chrissie looked up, murmuring softly to herself - or rather her dad, apparently, as the mountain started shaking, and the earth started to crack underneath Enceladus.

My heart filled with dread. I looked at the giant below us, struggling to get out of the pit, and I knew what had to happen.  
  
“Leo,” I said, “if you’ve got a rope in that tool belt, get it ready.”  
  
I leaped at the giant with no weapon but my bare hands.  
  
“Enceladus!” Piper yelled. “Look behind you!”  
  
It was an obvious trick, but her voice was so compelling, even I bought it. The giant said, “What?” and turned like there was an enormous spider on his back.  
  
I tackled his legs at just the right moment. The giant lost his balance. Enceladus slammed into the crater and slid to the bottom. While he tried to rise, I put my arms around the giant’s neck. When Enceladus struggled to his feet, I was riding his shoulders.  
  
“Get off!” Enceladus screamed. He tried to grab my legs, but I scrabbled around, squirming and climbing over the giant’s hair.  
  
 _Father_ , I thought. _If I’ve ever done anything good, anything you approved of, help me now. I offer my own life - just save my friends._

Suddenly I could smell the metallic scent of a storm. Darkness swallowed the sun. The giant froze, sensing it too.  
  
I yelled to my friends, “Hit the deck!”  
  
And every hair on my head stood straight up.  
  
 _Crack_!  
  
Lightning surged through my body, straight through Enceladus, and into the ground. The giant’s back stiffened, and I was thrown clear. When I regained my bearings, I was slipping down the side of the crater, and the crater was cracking open. The lightning bolt had split the cracks in the mountain, a clean line that went down for miles. The earth rumbled and tore apart, and Enceladus’s legs slid into the chasm. He clawed helplessly at the glassy sides of the pit, and just for a moment managed to hold on to the edge, his hands trembling.  
  
He fixed me with a look of hatred. “You’ve won nothing, boy. My brothers are rising, and they are ten times as strong as I. We will destroy the gods at their roots! You will die, and Olympus will die with-”  
  
The giant lost his grip and fell into the crevice.  
  
The earth shook. I fell toward the rift.  
  
“Grab hold!” Leo yelled.  
  
My feet were at the edge of the chasm when I grabbed the rope, and the others pulled me up.  
  
We stood together, exhausted and terrified, as the chasm closed like an angry mouth. The ground stopped pulling at our feet.  
  
For now, Gaea was gone.  
  
The mountainside was on fire. Smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the air. I spotted a helicopter - maybe firefighters or reporters - coming toward us.  
  
All around us was carnage. The Earthborn had melted into piles of clay, leaving behind only their rock missiles and some nasty bits of loincloth, but I figured they would re-form soon enough. Construction equipment lay in ruins. The ground was scarred and blackened.  
  
Coach Hedge started to move. He sat up with a groan and rubbed his head. His canary yellow pants were now the color of Dijon mustard mixed with mud.  
  
He blinked and looked around him at the battle scene. “Did I do this?”  
  
Before any of us could reply, Hedge picked up his club and got shakily to his feet. “Yeah, you wanted some hoof? I gave you some hoof, cupcakes! Who’s the goat, huh?”  
  
He did a little dance, kicking rocks and making what were probably rude satyr gestures at the piles of clay.  
  
Leo cracked a smile, and I couldn’t help it - I started to laugh. It probably sounded a little hysterical, but it was such a relief to be alive, I didn’t care.  
  
Then a man stood up across the clearing. Tristan McLean staggered forward. His eyes were hollow, shell-shocked, like someone who’d just walked through a nuclear wasteland.  
  
“Piper?” he called. His voice cracked. “Pipes, what- what is-”  
  
He couldn’t complete the thought. Piper ran over to him and hugged him tightly, but he almost didn’t seem to know her.  
  
I had felt a similar way - that morning at the Grand Canyon, when I woke with no memory. But Mr. McLean had the opposite problem. He had too many memories, too much trauma his mind just couldn’t handle. He was coming apart.  
  
“We gotta get him out of here,” Chrissie said.  
  
“Yeah, but how?” Leo said. “He’s in no shape to walk.”  
  
I glanced up at the helicopter, which was now circling directly overhead. “Can you make us a bullhorn or something?” I asked Leo. “Piper has some talking to do.”


	31. Chapter 31

**CHRISSIE**

Borrowing the helicopter was easy. Getting Piper's dad on board was not.  
  
Piper needed only a few words through Leo’s improvised bullhorn to convince the pilot to land on the mountain. The Park Service copter was big enough for medical evacuations or search and rescue, and when Piper told the very nice ranger pilot lady that it would be a great idea to fly them to the Oakland Airport, she readily agreed.  
  
“No,” her dad muttered, as they picked him up off the ground. “Piper, what- there were monsters- there were monsters- ”  
  
She needed both Leo’s and Jason’s help to hold him, while Coach Hedge and I gathered our supplies. Fortunately Hedge had put his pants and shoes back on, so we didn’t have to explain the goat legs.  
  
It broke my heart to see Piper's dad like this - pushed beyond the breaking point, crying like a little boy. I didn’t know what the giant had done to him exactly, how the monsters had shattered his spirit, but I didn’t think Piper should find out.  
  
“It’ll be okay, Dad,” she said, making her voice as soothing as possible. She probably didn’t want to charmspeak her own father, but it seemed the only way. “These people are my friends. We’re going to help you. You’re safe now.”  
  
He blinked, and looked up at helicopter rotors. “Blades. They had a machine with so many blades. They had six arms...”  
  
When we got him to the bay doors, the pilot came over to help. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked.  
  
“Smoke inhalation,” Jason suggested. “Or heat exhaustion.”  
  
“We should get him to a hospital,” the pilot said.  
  
“It’s okay,” Piper said. “The airport is good.”  
  
“Yeah, the airport is good,” the pilot agreed immediately. Then she frowned, as if uncertain why she’d changed her mind. “Isn’t he Tristan McLean, the movie star?”  
  
“No,” Piper said. “He only looks like him. Forget it.”  
  
“Yeah,” the pilot said. “Only looks like him. I-” She blinked, confused. “I forgot what I was saying. Let’s get going.”

Jason raised his eyebrows at Piper, obviously impressed, but Piper looked miserable. When we finally got him on board, the helicopter took off. The pilot kept getting questions over her radio, asking her where she was going, but she ignored them. We veered away from the burning mountain and headed toward the Berkeley Hills.  
  
“Piper.” Her dad grasped her hand and held on like he was afraid he’d fall. “It’s you? They told me- they told me you would die. They said... horrible things would happen.”  
  
“It’s me, Dad. Everything’s going to be okay.”  
  
“They were monsters,” he said. “Real monsters. Earth spirits, right out of Grandpa Tom’s stories- and the Earth Mother was angry with me. And the giant, Tsul’kälû, breathing fire-” He focused on Piper again, his eyes like broken glass, reflecting a crazy kind of light. “They said you were a demigod. Your mother was...”  
  
“Aphrodite,” Piper said. “Goddess of love.”  
  
“I- I-” He took a shaky breath, then seemed to forget how to exhale.  
  
We were careful not to watch. Leo fiddled with a lug nut from his tool belt. Coach Hedge chewed on the stub of his carnation, and for once the satyr didn’t look in the mood to yell or boast. Jason gazed at the valley below - the roads backing up as mortals stopped their cars and gawked at the burning mountain. I stood by Jason's side, our hands together, our fingers intertwined. I could tell being he was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and so I gave his hand a soft squeeze, which he returned.  
  
“I didn’t know about Mom,” Piper told her father. “Not until you were taken. When we found out where you were, we came right away. My friends helped me. No one will hurt you again.”  
  
Her dad couldn’t stop shivering. “You’re heroes- you and your friends. I can’t believe it. You’re a real hero, not like me. Not playing a part. I’m so proud of you, Pipes.” But the words were muttered listlessly, in a semi-trance.  
  
He gazed down on the valley. “Your mother never told me.”  
  
“She thought it was for the best.”

Silence fell. I used my thumb to rub small circles on Jason's hand, and he turned his head, giving me a small but grateful smile.

Piper started telling her dad small stories to distract him - her time at the Wilderness School, her cabin at Camp Half-Blood. She told him how Coach Hedge ate carnations and got knocked on his butt on Mount Diablo, how Leo had tamed a dragon, how I seemed to have a plan for everything, and how Jason had made wolves back down by talking in Latin. We smiled reluctantly as she recounted our adventures. Her dad seemed to relax as she talked, but he didn’t smile. I wasn’t even sure he heard her.  
  
As we passed over the hills into the East Bay, Jason tensed. He leaned so far out the doorway I was afraid he’d fall, so I put my other hand - the one that wasn't held in his with a death grip - on his arm to keep him grounded.  
  
He pointed. “What is that?”  
  
I looked down, but I didn’t see anything interesting - just hills, woods, houses, little roads snaking through the canyons. A highway cut through a tunnel in the hills, connecting the East Bay with the inland towns.  
  
“Where?” Piper asked, craning her head to look around us.  
  
“That road,” he said. “The one that goes through the hills.”  
  
Piper picked up the com helmet the pilot had given her and relayed the question over the radio. The answer wasn’t very exciting.  
  
“She says it’s Highway 24,” Piper reported. “That’s the Caldecott Tunnel. Why?”  
  
Jason stared intently at the tunnel entrance, but he said nothing. It disappeared from view as they flew over downtown Oakland, but Jason still stared into the distance, his expression almost as unsettled as Piper’s dad’s.  
  
“Monsters,” he said, a tear tracing his cheek. “I live in a world of monsters.”


	32. Chapter 32

**CHRISSIE**

Air traffic control didn't want to let an unscheduled helicopter land at the Oakland Airport - until Piper got on the radio. Then it turned out to be no problem.  
  
We unloaded on the tarmac, and everyone looked at Piper.  
  
“What now?” Jason asked her.  
  
Piper hesitated. Her dad needer her. She had to help him. But today was also the solstice. We had to save Hera. We had no idea where to go or if we were even too late. But how could she leave her dad in this condition?  
  
“First thing,” she said. “I- I have to get my dad home. I’m sorry, guys.”  
  
The boys' faces fell.  
  
“Oh,” Leo said. “I mean, absolutely. He needs you right now. We can take it from here.”  
  
“Pipes, no.” Her dad had been sitting in the helicopter doorway, a blanket around his shoulders. But he stumbled to his feet. “You have a mission. A quest. I can’t-”

“I’ll take care of him,” said Coach Hedge.  
  
Piper stared at him. The satyr was probably the last person she’d expected to offer. “You?” she asked.  
  
“I’m a protector,” Gleeson said. “That’s my job, not fighting.”  
  
He sounded a little crestfallen, and I realized maybe Piper shouldn’t have recounted how he got knocked unconscious in the last battle. In his own way, maybe the satyr was as sensitive as her dad.  
  
Then Hedge straightened, and set his jaw. “Of course, I’m good at fighting, too.” He glared at us all, daring us to argue.  
  
“Yes,” Jason said.

"Duh," I added.  
  
“Terrifying,” Leo agreed.  
  
The coach grunted. “But I’m a protector, and I can do this. Your dad’s right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest.”  
  
“But...” Piper's eyes turned watery. “Dad...”  
  
He held out his arms, and she hugged him.  
  
“Let’s give them a minute,” Jason said, and we took the pilot a few yards down the tarmac

I took the time to send a quick text to my mom - I figured that all of us would be out of here pretty soon, so there wasn't that much of a risk using technology.

_Hey, mom, it's Chrissie. Haven't found Percy, but Thalia's confident she has some clues. I'll fill you in when we get back. Say hi to Paul for me. X_

Piper's dad was drinking some pink liquid out of a vial when I was done. His eyes rolled up into his head, and he slumped forward. Piper caught him, and we ran up to help.  
  
“Got him,” Hedge said. The satyr stumbled, but he was strong enough to hold Tristan McLean upright. “I already asked our ranger friend to call up his plane. It’s on the way now. Home address?”  
  
Piper opened her mouth, closed it, and checked her dad’s pocket, pulling out a Blackberry. Enceladus must've not deemed it important enough to take.  
  
“Everything’s on here,” Piper said. “Address, his chauffeur’s number. Just watch out for Jane.”  
  
Hedge’s eyes lit up, like he sensed a possible fight. “Who’s Jane?”  
  
By the time Piper explained, her dad’s sleek white Gulf-stream had taxied next to the helicopter.  
  
Hedge and the flight attendant got Piper’s dad on board. Then Hedge came down one last time to say his good-byes. He gave Piper a hug and glared at me, Jason and Leo. “You all take care of this girl, you hear? Or I’m gonna make you do push-ups.”  
  
“You got it, Coach,” Leo said, a smile tugging at his mouth.  
  
“No push-ups,” Jason promised.  
  
Piper gave the old satyr one more hug. “Thank you, Gleeson. Take care of him, please.”  
  
“I got this, McLean,” he assured her. “They got root beer and veggie enchiladas on this flight, and one hundred percent linen napkins - yum! I could get used to this.”  
  
Trotting up the stairs, he lost one shoe, and his hoof was visible for just a second. The flight attendant’s eyes widened, but she looked away and pretended nothing was wrong. I figured she’d probably seen stranger things, working for Tristan McLean.  
  
When the plane was heading down the runaway, Piper started to cry. I pulled her into a hug, letting her cry on my shoulder. Jason stood next to me, rubbing Piper's back, and Leo stood uncomfortably nearby, pulling Kleenex out of his tool belt.  
  
“Your dad’s in good hands,” Jason said. “You did amazing.”  
  
She sobbed into my jacket. She allowed herself to be held for six deep breaths. Seven. Then she looked up, and just in time, too. The helicopter pilot was already looking uncomfortable, like she was starting to wonder why she’d flown them here.

“Thank you, guys,” Piper said. “I-”  
  
The words died in her throat, but I understood, and from the guys’ expressions, they did too.  
  
Then, right next to Jason, the air began to shimmer. An image appeared in the air - a dark-haired girl in silver winter camouflage, holding a bow.  
  
Jason stumbled back in surprise. “Thalia!”  
  
“Thank the gods,” said the Hunter. The scene behind her was hard to make out, but I heard yelling, metal clashing on metal, and explosions.  
  
“We’ve found her,” Thalia said. “Where are you?”  
  
“Oakland,” he said. “Where are you?”  
  
“The Wolf House! Oakland is good; you’re not too far. We’re holding off the giant’s minions, but we can’t hold them forever. Get here before sunset, or it’s all over.”  
  
“Then it’s not too late?” Piper cried.

“Not yet,” Thalia said. “But Jason - it’s worse than I realized. Porphyrion is rising. Hurry.”  
  
“But where is the Wolf House?” he pleaded.  
  
“Our last trip,” Thalia said, her image starting to flicker. “The park. Jack London. Remember?”  
  
This made no sense to me, but Jason looked like he’d been shot. He tottered, his face pale, and the Iris message disappeared.

"Jase, are you all right?" I asked. He nodded, but he still grabbed onto my hand for dear life.

“You know where she is?” Leo asked.  
  
“Yes,” Jason said. “Sonoma Valley. Not far. Not by air.”  
  
Piper turned to the ranger pilot, who’d been watching all this with an increasingly puzzled expression.  
  
“Ma’am,” Piper said with her best smile. “You don’t mind helping us one more time, do you?”  
  
“I don’t mind,” the pilot agreed.

"Can't take a mortal into battle," I pointed out  
  
Jason nodded. “It’s too dangerous.” He turned to Leo. “Do you think you could fly this thing?”  
  
“Um...” Leo’s expression didn’t exactly look reassuring. But then he put his hand on the side of the helicopter, concentrating hard, as if listening to the machine.  
  
“Bell 412HP utility helicopter,” Leo said. “Composite four-blade main rotor, cruising speed twenty-two knots, service ceiling twenty-thousand feet. The tank is near full. Sure, I can fly it.”  
  
Piper smiled at the ranger again. “You don’t have a problem with an under-aged unlicensed kid borrowing your copter, do you? We’ll return it.”  
  
“I-” The pilot nearly choked on the words, but she got them out: “I don’t have a problem with that.”  
  
Leo grinned. “Hop in, kids. Uncle Leo’s gonna take you for a ride.”


	33. Chapter 33

**JASON**

The sun was going down as we flew north over the Richmond Bridge, and I couldn’t believe the day had gone so quickly. Once again, nothing like ADHD and a good fight to the death to make time fly.  
  
“Going okay?” Piper asked Leo from the copilot’s seat.  
  
“Aces,” he said. “So what’s the Wolf House?”  
  
I knelt between their seats, Chrissie by my side. “An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it - Jack London.”  
  
Leo frowned. “He an actor?”  
  
“Writer,” Piper said. “Adventure stuff, right? Call of the Wild? White Fang?”  
  
“Yeah,” I said. “He was a son of Mercury - I mean, Hermes. He was an adventurer, traveled the world. He was even a hobo for a while. Then he made a fortune writing. He bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion - the Wolf House.”

“Named that ’cause he wrote about wolves?” Leo guessed.  
  
“Partially,” I said. “But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves - he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There’re a lot of holes in his life story - how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much - stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod.”  
  
The bay slipped behind us, and the helicopter continued north. Ahead of us, yellow hills rolled out as far as I could see.

"But Jack London never went to Camp Half-Blood," Chrissie said, frowning.  
  
“No,” I said. “No, he didn’t.”  
  
“Bro, you’re freaking me out with the mysterious talk," Leo broke in. "Are you remembering your past or not?”  
  
“Pieces,” I said. “Only pieces. None of it good. The Wolf House is on sacred ground. It’s where London started his journey as a child - where he found out he was a demigod. That’s why he returned there. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn’t meant for him. The Wolf House was cursed. It burned in a fire a week before he and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site.”  
  
“So,” Piper said, “how do you know all this?”  
  
“I started my journey there too,” I said. “It’s a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. If Gaea can claim it, use its power to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion - that might be enough to awaken the earth goddess fully.”

My head was pounding with the tiny shards of memories returning. I ran my hand through my hair, and Chrissie, reassuringly put her hand on my forearm.  
  
“Thirty minutes out,” Leo told us. “If you want to get some rest, now’s a good time.”  
  
I smiled at Chrissie, and we strapped ourselves into the back of the helicopter. I passed out almost immediately.  
  
I woke up when we hit the storm clouds. I crawled forward, grabbing Leo and Piper's seats for balance. “We’ve got to be getting close.”  
  
Leo was too busy wrestling with the stick to reply. Below us, the ground was a dark quilt of trees and fog. The ridge of a hill loomed in front of them and Leo yanked the stick, just clearing the treetops.  
  
“There!” I shouted.  
  
A small valley opened up before us, with the murky shape of a building in the middle. Leo aimed the helicopter straight for it. All around us were flashes of light. Trees cracked and exploded at the edges of the clearing. Shapes moved through the mist. Combat seemed to be everywhere.  
  
Leo set down the helicopter in an icy field about fifty yards from the house and killed the engine. Chrissie squeezed my hand, which she'd been holding onto for dear life, and I was about to relax when I heard a whistling sound and Leo screamed “Out!”  
  
We leaped from the helicopter and barely cleared the rotors before a massive _BOOM_ shook the ground. Chrissie stumbled, but I grabbed her arm and steadied her, and we joined Piper running towards Leo.

"You all right, bro?" Chrissie shouted.

He got up shakily and laid his eyes the flattened helicopter.  
  
“Yeah.” Leo shivered. “Guess we owe that ranger lady a new helicopter.”  
  
Piper pointed south. “Fighting’s over there.”

Chrissie shook her head. “No, it’s all around us.”  
  
She was right. The sounds of combat rang across the valley. The snow and mist made it hard to tell for sure, but there seemed to be a circle of fighting all around the Wolf House.  
  
Behind us loomed Jack London’s dream home - a massive ruin of red and gray stones and rough-hewn timber beams. I could imagine how it had looked before it burned down - a combination log cabin and castle, like a billionaire lumberjack might build. But in the mist and sleet, the place had a lonely, haunted feel.  
  
“Jason! Chrissie!” a girl’s voice shook me out of my thoughts.  
  
Thalia appeared from the fog, her parka caked with snow. Her bow was in her hand, and her quiver was almost empty. She ran toward us, but made it only a few steps before a six-armed ogre - one of the Earthborn - burst out of the storm behind her, a raised club in each hand.  
  
“Look out!” Leo yelled. We rushed to help, but Thalia had it under control. She launched herself into a flip, notching an arrow as she pivoted like a gymnast and landed in a kneeling position. The ogre got a silver arrow right between the eyes and melted into a pile of clay.  
  
Thalia stood and retrieved her arrow, but the point had snapped off. “That was my last one.” She kicked the pile of clay resentfully. “Stupid ogre.”  
  
“Nice shot, though,” Leo said.  
  
Thalia ignored him as usual. She hugged me and Chrissie and nodded to Piper. “Just in time. My Hunters are holding a perimeter around the mansion, but we’ll be overrun any minute.”  
  
“By Earthborn?” Jason asked.  
  
“And wolves - Lycaon’s minions.” Thalia blew a fleck of ice off her nose. “Also storm spirits-”  
  
“But we gave them to Aeolus!” Piper protested.  
  
“Who tried to kill us,” Leo reminded her. “Maybe he’s helping Gaea again.”  
  
“I don’t know,” Thalia said. “But the monsters keep re-forming almost as fast as we can kill them. We took the Wolf House with no problem: surprised the guards and sent them straight to Tartarus. But then this freak snowstorm blew in. Wave after wave of monsters started attacking. Now we’re surrounded. I don’t know who or what is leading the assault, but I think they planned this. It was a trap to kill anyone who tried to rescue Hera.”  
  
“Where is she?” Jason asked.  
  
“Inside,” Thalia said. “We tried to free her, but we can’t figure out how to break the cage. It’s only a few minutes until the sun goes down. Hera thinks that’s the moment when Porphyrion will be reborn. Plus, most monsters are stronger at night. If we don’t free Hera soon-”  
  
She didn’t need to finish the thought.


	34. Chapter 34

**CHRISSIE**

The four of us followed Thalia into the ruined mansion.  
  
Jason stepped over the threshold and immediately collapsed.  
  
“Hey!” Leo caught him. “None of that, man. What’s wrong?”  
  
“This place...” Jason shook his head. “Sorry... It came rushing back to me.”  
  
“So you have been here,” Piper said.  
  
“We both have,” Thalia said. Her expression was grim, like she was reliving someone’s death. “This is where my mom took us when Jason was a child. She left him here, told me he was dead. He just disappeared.”  
  
“She gave me to the wolves,” Jason murmured. “At Hera’s insistence. She gave me to Lupa.”  
  
“That part I didn’t know.” Thalia frowned. “Who is Lupa?”

An explosion shook the building. Just outside, a blue mushroom cloud billowed up, raining snowflakes and ice like a nuclear blast made of cold instead of heat.

"Might not be the best time for 20 questions," I said. "Where's her royal pain-in-the-ass?"

Once inside, Jason seemed to get his bearings. The house was built in a giant U, and Jason led us between the two wings to an outside courtyard with an empty reflecting pool. At the bottom of the pool, just as Jason had described from his dream, two spires of rock and root tendrils had cracked through the foundation.  
  
One of the spires was much bigger - a solid dark mass about twenty feet high, and to me it looked like a stone body bag. Underneath the mass of fused tendrils I could make out the shape of a head, wide shoulders, a massive chest and arms, like the creature was stuck waist deep in the earth. No, not stuck - rising.  
  
On the opposite end of the pool, the other spire was smaller and more loosely woven. Each tendril was as thick as a telephone pole, with so little space between them that I doubted I could’ve gotten my arm through. Still, I could see inside. And in the center of the cage stood the queen of Olympus.  
  
She looked weak: dark hair covered with a shawl, the black dress of a widow, a wrinkled face with glinting, scary eyes.  
  
She didn’t glow or radiate any sort of power. She looked like a regular mortal woman, and it kind of freaked me out. I mean, I kinda was used to her being about to obliterate me for running my mouth.  
  
Leo dropped into the pool and approached the cage. “Hola, Tía. Little bit of trouble?”  
  
She crossed her arms and sighed in exasperation. “Don’t inspect me like I’m one of your machines, Leo Valdez. Get me out of here!”  
  
Thalia stepped next to him and looked at the cage with distaste - or maybe she was looking at the goddess. “We tried everything we could think of, Leo, but maybe my heart wasn’t in it. If it was up to me, I’d just leave her in there.”  
  
“Ohh, Thalia Grace,” the goddess said. “When I get out of here, you’ll be sorry you were ever born.”  
  
“Save it!” Thalia snapped. “You’ve been nothing but a curse to every child of Zeus for ages. You sent a bunch of intestinally challenged cows after my friends-”  
  
“They were disrespectful!”

“You dropped a statue on Thalia's legs,” I snapped.  
  
“It was an accident!”  
  
“And you took my brother!” Thalia’s voice cracked with emotion. “Here - on this spot. You ruined our lives. We should leave you to Gaea!”  
  
“Hey,” Jason intervened. “Thalia - Sis - I know. But this isn’t the time. You should help your Hunters.”  
  
Thalia clenched her jaw. “Fine. For you, Jason. But if you ask me, she isn’t worth it.”  
  
Thalia turned, leaped out of the pool, and stormed from the building.  
  
Leo turned to Hera with grudging respect. “Intestinally challenged cows?”  
  
“Focus on the cage, Leo,” she grumbled. “And Jason - you are wiser than your sister. I chose my champion well.”  
  
“I’m not your champion, lady,” Jason said. “I’m only helping you because you stole my memories and you’re better than the alternative. Speaking of which, what’s going on with that?”  
  
He nodded to the other spire that looked like the king-size granite body bag. Was I imagining it, or had it grown taller since they’d gotten here?  
  
“That, Jason,” Hera said, “is the king of the giants being reborn.”  
  
“Yuck,” I said.  
  
“Indeed,” Hera said. “Porphyrion, the strongest of his kind. Gaea needed a great deal of power to raise him again - my power. For weeks I’ve grown weaker as my essence was used to grow him a new form.”  
  
“So you’re like a heat lamp,” Leo guessed. “Or fertilizer.”  
  
The goddess glared at him, but I thought the comment was pretty deserved. This old lady had been making his life miserable since he was a baby. He totally had rights to rag on her.  
  
“Joke all you wish,” Hera said in a clipped tone. “But at sundown, it will be too late. The giant will awake. He will offer me a choice: marry him, or be consumed by the earth. And I cannot marry him. We will all be destroyed. And as we die, Gaea will awaken.”  
  
Leo frowned at the giant’s spire. “Can’t we blow it up or something?”  
  
“Without me, you do not have the power,” Hera said. “You might as well try to destroy a mountain.”  
  
“Done that once today,” Jason said.

"Done that two other times in my life," I put it.  
  
“Just hurry up and let me out!” Hera demanded.  
  
Jason scratched his head. “Leo, can you do it?”  
  
“I don’t know.” Leo tried not to panic. “Besides, if she’s a goddess, why hasn’t she busted herself out?”  
  
Hera paced furiously around her cage, cursing in Ancient Greek. “Use your brain, Leo Valdez. I picked you because you’re intelligent. Once trapped, a god’s power is useless. Your own father trapped me once in a golden chair. It was humiliating! I had to beg - beg him for my freedom and apologize for throwing him off Olympus.”  
  
“Sounds fair,” Leo said.

"It _was_ fair," I added.  
  
Hera gave him the godly stink-eye, ignoring me completely. “I’ve watched you since you were a child, son of Hephaestus, because I knew you could aid me at this moment. If anyone can find a way to destroy this abomination, it is you.”  
  
“But it’s not a machine. It’s like Gaea thrust her hand out of the ground and...” A metaphorical light bulb went off above Leo's head. “Hold on. I do have an idea. Piper, I’m going to need your help. And we’re going to need time.”  
  
The air turned brittle with cold. The temperature dropped so fast, my lips cracked and our breath changed to mist. Frost coated the walls of the Wolf House. Venti rushed in - but instead of winged men, these were shaped like horses, with dark storm-cloud bodies and manes that crackled with lightning. Some had silver arrows sticking out of their flanks. Behind them came red-eyed wolves and the six-armed Earthborn.

Piper drew her dagger. I summoned my knives. Jason grabbed an ice-covered plank off the pool floor. Leo reached into his tool belt, but he produced a tin of breath mints. He looked around, shoved them back in, and drew a hammer instead.  
  
One of the wolves padded forward. It was dragging a human-size statue by the leg. At the edge of the pool, the wolf opened its maw and dropped the statue for them to see - an ice sculpture of a girl, an archer with short spiky hair and a surprised look on her face.  
  
“Thalia!” Jason and I rushed forward, but Piper pulled me back, Leo doing the same to Jason. The ground around Thalia’s statue was already webbed with ice. I realized that if I'd touched her, I might've turned into a icicle too.  
  
“Who did this?” Jason yelled. His body crackled with electricity. “I’ll kill you myself!”  
  
From somewhere behind the monsters, I heard a girl’s laughter, clear and cold. She stepped out of the mist in her snowy white dress, a silver crown atop her long black hair. She regarded us with those deep brown eyes, which I was about to gouge out of her head.  
  
“Bon soir, mes amis,” said Khione, the goddess of snow. She gave Leo a frosty smile. “Alas, son of Hephaestus, you say you need time? I’m afraid time is one tool you do not have.”


	35. Chapter 35

**JASON**

After the fight on Mount Diablo, I didn’t think I could ever feel more afraid or devastated.  
  
Now my sister was frozen at my feet. We were surrounded by monsters. I’d broken my golden sword and replaced it with a piece of wood. We had approximately five minutes until the king of the giants busted out and destroyed us. I had already pulled my biggest ace, calling down Zeus’s lightning when we’d fought Enceladus, and I doubted I’d have the strength or the cooperation from above to do it again. Which meant my only assets were one whiny imprisoned goddess, one sort-of girlfriend with twin daggers, one sort-of ex with a pretty voice, and Leo, who apparently thought he could defeat the armies of darkness with breath mints.  
  
On top of all this, my worst memories were flooding back. I knew for certain I’d done many dangerous things in his life, but I’d never been closer to death than I was right now.  
  
The enemy was beautiful. Khione smiled, her dark eyes glittering, as a dagger of ice grew in her hand.  
  
“What’ve you done?” I demanded.  
  
“Oh, so many things,” the snow goddess purred. “Your sister’s not dead, if that’s what you mean. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we’d defrost them one at a time and hunt them down for amusement. Let them be the prey for once.”  
  
The wolves snarled appreciatively.  
  
“Yes, my dears.” Khione kept her eyes on me. “Your sister almost killed their king, you know. Lycaon’s off in a cave somewhere, no doubt licking his wounds, but his minions have joined us to take revenge for their master. And soon Porphyrion will arise, and we shall rule the world.”  
  
“Traitor!” Hera shouted. “You meddlesome, D-list goddess! You aren’t worthy to pour my wine, much less rule the world.”  
  
Khione sighed. “Tiresome as ever, Queen Hera. I’ve been wanting to shut you up for millennia.”  
  
Khione waved her hand, and ice encased the prison, sealing in the spaces between the earthen tendrils.  
  
“That’s better,” the snow goddess said. “Now, demigods, about your death-”  
  
“You’re the one who tricked Hera into coming here,” I said. “You gave Zeus the idea of closing Olympus.”  
  
The wolves snarled, and the storm spirits whinnied, ready to attack, but Khione held up her hand. “Patience, my loves. If he wants to talk, what matter? The sun is setting, and time is on our side. Of course, Jason Grace. Like snow, my voice is quiet and gentle, and very cold. It’s easy for me to whisper to the other gods, especially when I am only confirming their own deepest fears. I also whispered in Aeolus’s ear that he should issue an order to kill demigods. It is a small service for Gaea, but I’m sure I will be well rewarded when her sons the giants come to power.”  
  
“You could’ve killed us in Quebec,” Chrissie put in. “Could've saved you a lot of trouble. Why did you let us live?”  
  
Khione wrinkled her nose. “Messy business, killing you in my father’s house, especially when he insists on meeting all visitors. I did try, you remember. It would’ve been lovely if he’d agreed to turn you to ice. But once he’d given you guarantee of safe passage, I couldn’t openly disobey him. My father is an old fool. He lives in fear of Zeus and Aeolus, but he’s still powerful. Soon enough, when my new masters have awakened, I will depose Boreas and take the throne of the North Wind, but not just yet. Besides, my father did have a point. Your quest was suicidal. I fully expected you to fail.”  
  
“And to help us with that,” Leo said, “you knocked our dragon out of the sky over Detroit. Those frozen wires in his head - that was your fault. You’re gonna pay for that.”  
  
“You’re also the one who kept Enceladus informed about us,” Piper added. “We’ve been plagued by snowstorms the whole trip.”  
  
“Yes, I feel so close to all of you now!” Khione said. “Once you made it past Omaha, I decided to asked Lycaon to track you down so Jason could die here, at the Wolf House.” Khione smiled at him. “You see, Jason, your blood spilled on this sacred ground will taint it for generations. Your demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these two from Camp Half-Blood. They’ll believe the Greeks have conspired with giants. It will be... delicious.”

The others didn’t seem to understand what she was saying. But I knew. My memories were returning enough for me to realize how dangerously effective Khione’s plan could be.  
  
“You’ll set demigods against demigods,” I said.  
  
“It’s so easy!” said Khione. “As I told you, I only encourage what you would do anyway.”  
  
“But why?” Piper spread her hands. “Khione, you’ll tear the world apart. The giants will destroy everything. You don’t want that. Call off your monsters.”  
  
Khione hesitated, then laughed. “Your persuasive powers are improving, girl. But I am a goddess. You can’t charm-speak me. We wind gods are creatures of chaos! I’ll overthrow Aeolus and let the storms run free. If we destroy the mortal world, all the better! They never honored me, even in Greek times. Humans and their talk of global warming. Pah! I’ll cool them down quickly enough. When we retake the ancient places, I will cover the Acropolis in snow.”  
  
“The ancient places.” Leo’s eyes widened. “That’s what Enceladus meant about destroy the roots of the gods. He meant Greece.”  
  
“You could join me, son of Hephaestus,” Khione said. “I know you find me beautiful. It would be enough for my plan if these other two were to die. Reject that ridiculous destiny the Fates have given you. Live and be my champion, instead. Your skills would be quite useful.”  
  
Leo looked stunned. He glanced behind him, like Khione might be talking to somebody else. For a second, I was worried. I figured Leo didn’t have beautiful goddesses make him offers like this every day.  
  
Then Leo laughed so hard, he doubled over. “Yeah, join you. Right. Until you get bored of me and turn me into a Leosicle? Lady, nobody messes with my dragon and gets away with it. I can’t believe I thought you were hot.”  
  
Khione’s face turned red. “Hot? You dare insult me? I am cold, Leo Valdez. Very, very cold.”  
  
She shot a blast of wintry sleet at the demigods, but Leo held up his hand. A wall of fire roared to life in front of them, and the snow dissolved in a steamy cloud.  
  
Leo grinned. “See, lady, that’s what happens to snow in Texas. It - freaking - melts.”  
  
Khione hissed. “Enough of this. Hera is failing. Porphyrion is rising. Kill the demigods. Let them be our king’s first meal!”  
  
I hefted the icy wooden plank - a stupid weapon to die fighting with - and the monsters charged.  
  
A wolf launched itself at me. I stepped back and swung the scrap wood into the beast’s snout with a satisfying crack. Maybe only silver could kill it, but a good old-fashioned board could still give it a Tylenol headache.  
  
I turned toward the sound of hooves and saw a storm spirit horse bearing down on me. I concentrated and summoned the wind. Just before the spirit could trample me, I launched myself into the air, grabbed the horse’s smoky neck, and pirouetted onto its back.  
  
The storm spirit reared. It tried to shake me, then tried to dissolve into mist to lose me; but somehow I stayed on. I willed the horse to remain in solid form, and the horse seemed unable to refuse. I could feel it fighting against me. I could sense its raging thoughts - complete chaos straining to break free. It took all my willpower to impose my own wishes and bring the horse under control. I thought about Aeolus, overseeing thousands and thousands of spirits like this, some much worse. No wonder the Master of the Winds had gone a little mad after centuries of that pressure. But I had only one spirit to master, and I had to win.  
  
“You’re mine now,” I said.  
  
The horse bucked, but I held fast. Its mane flickered as it circled around the empty pool, its hooves causing miniature thunderstorms - tempests - whenever they touched.  
  
“Tempest?” I said. “Is that your name?”  
  
The horse spirit shook its mane, evidently pleased to be recognized.  
  
“Fine,” I said. “Now, let’s fight.”  
  
I charged into battle, swinging my icy piece of wood, knocking aside wolves and plunging straight through other venti. Tempest was a strong spirit, and every time he plowed through one of his brethren, he discharged so much electricity, the other spirit vaporized into a harmless cloud of mist.  
  
Through the chaos, I caught glimpses of my friends.

Piper was surrounded by Earthborn, but she seemed to be holding her own. She was so impressive-looking as she fought, almost glowing with beauty, that the Earthborn stared at her in awe, forgetting that they were supposed to kill her. They’d lower their clubs and watch dumbfounded as she smiled and charged them. They’d smile back - until she sliced them apart with her dagger, and they melted into mounds of mud.

Chrissie was fighting like a demon, obliterating everything she could. She stabbed stray earthborn and wind spirits, and cracked the earth underneath the wolves - the earth snapping them up and closing like an angry mouth. I realized the trembling ground underneath our feet was her doing, but it ignored us, only bringing the enemies off-balance.

Leo had taken on Khione herself. While fighting a goddess should’ve been suicide, Leo was the right man for the job. She kept summoning ice daggers to throw at him, blasts of winter air, tornadoes of snow. Leo burned through all of it. His whole body flickered with red tongues of flame like he’d been doused with gasoline. He advanced on the goddess, using two silver-tipped ball-peen hammers to smash any monsters that got in his way.  
  
I quickly realized that Leo was the only reason we were still alive. Leo's fiery aura was heating up the whole courtyard, countering Khione’s winter magic. Without him, we would’ve been frozen like the Hunters long ago. Wherever Leo went, ice melted off the stones. Even Thalia started to defrost a little when Leo stepped near her. Whenever he got close enough to Chrissie, waves of dry, hot air would roll over the clearing - literal miniature heat waves.  
  
Khione slowly backed away. Her expression went from enraged to shocked to slightly panicked as Leo got closer.

I was running out of enemies. Wolves lay in dazed heaps. Some slunk away into the ruins, yelping from their wounds. Piper stabbed the last Earthborn, who toppled to the ground in a pile of sludge. I rode Tempest through the last ventus, breaking it into vapor. Then I wheeled around and saw Leo bearing down on the goddess of snow.  
  
“You’re too late,” Khione snarled. “He’s awake! And don’t think you’ve won anything here, demigods. Hera’s plan will never work. You’ll be at each other’s throats before you can ever stop us.”  
  
Leo set his hammers ablaze and threw them at the goddess, but she turned into snow - a white powdery image of herself. Leo’s hammers slammed into the snow woman, breaking it into a steaming mound of mush.

Chrissie stomped her foot, and the ground stopped quaking. "Nice ride, Grace."  
  
Tempest reared on his hind legs, arcing electricity across his hooves. A complete show-off.

"Jeez, no need for the swearing, dude," Chrissie said, and I realized she was talking to the ventus. "Gods, you'd get along with Astra."

"Astra?" I frowned.

"My pegasus." Chrissie winked at me.  
  
Then I heard a cracking sound behind me. The melting ice on Hera’s cage sloughed off in a curtain of slush, and the goddess called, “Oh, don’t mind me! Just the queen of the heavens, dying over here!”

"Okay," Chrissie said, and I shot her a look. I dismounted and told Tempest to stay put. The four of us jumped into the pool and ran to the spire.  
  
Leo frowned. “Uh, Tía Callida, are you getting shorter?”  
  
“No, you dolt! The earth is claiming me. Hurry!”  
  
As much as I disliked Hera, what I saw inside the cage alarmed me. Not only was Hera sinking, the ground was rising around her like water in a tank. Liquid rock had already covered her shins. “The giant wakes!” Hera warned. “You only have seconds!”  
  
“On it,” Leo said. “Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage.”  
  
“What?” she said.  
  
“Talk to it. Use everything you’ve got. Convince Gaea to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen while I-”  
  
“Right!” Piper cleared her throat and said, “Hey, Gaea. Nice night, huh? Boy, I’m tired. How about you? Ready for some sleep?”  
  
The more she talked, the more confident she sounded. I felt my own eyes getting heavy, and I had to force myself not to focus on her words. It seemed to have some effect on the cage. The mud was rising more slowly. The tendrils seemed to soften just a little - becoming more like tree root than rock. Leo pulled a circular saw out of his tool belt. How it fit in there, I had no idea. Then Leo looked at the cord and grunted in frustration. “I don’t have anywhere to plug it in!”  
  
The spirit horse Tempest jumped into the pit and whinnied.  
  
“Really?” Chrissie asked.  
  
Tempest dipped his head and trotted over to Leo. Leo looked dubious, but he held up the plug, and a breeze whisked it into the horse’s flank. Lighting sparked, connecting with the prongs of the plug, and the circular saw whirred to life.  
  
“Sweet!” Leo grinned. “Bro, your horse comes with AC outlets!”  
  
Our good mood didn’t last long. On the other side of the pool, the giant’s spire crumbled with a sound like a tree snapping in half. Its outer sheath of tendrils exploded from the top down, raining stone and wood shards as the giant shook himself free and climbed out of the earth.  
  
I hadn’t thought anything could be scarier than Enceladus.  
  
I was wrong.  
  
Porphyrion was even taller, and even more ripped. He didn’t radiate heat, or show any signs of breathing fire, but there was something more terrible about him - a kind of strength, even magnetism, as if the giant were so huge and dense he had his own gravitational field.  
  
Like Enceladus, the giant king was humanoid from the waist up, clad in bronze armor, and from the waist down he had scaly dragon’s legs; but his skin was the color of lima beans. His hair was green as summer leaves, braided in long locks and decorated with weapons - daggers, axes, and full-size swords, some of them bent and bloody - maybe trophies taken from demigods eons before. When the giant opened his eyes, they were blank white, like polished marble. He took a deep breath.  
  
“Alive!” he bellowed. “Praise to Gaea!”  
  
I made a heroic little whimpering sound I hoped my friends couldn’t hear. I was very sure no demigod could solo this guy. Porphyrion could lift mountains. He could crush me with one finger.  
  
“Leo,” I said.  
  
“Huh?” Leo’s mouth was wide open. Even Piper seemed dazed.  
  
“You guys keep working,” I said. “Get Hera free!”  
  
“What are you going to do?” Piper asked. “You guys can’t seriously-”  
  
“Entertain a giant?” I said, locking eyes with Chrissie. “We’ve got no choice.”


	36. Chapter 36

**CHRISSIE**

“Excellent!” the giant roared as we approached. “An appetizer! Who are you - Artemis? Hermes? Ares? Demeter?”

“I’m Jason Grace,” Jason said. “Son of Jupiter.”

"Christina Jackson," I added. "Daughter of Poseidon."  
  
Those white eyes bored into us. Behind us, Leo’s circular saw whirred, and Piper talked to the cage in soothing tones, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.  
  
Porphyrion threw back his head and laughed. “Outstanding!” He looked up at the cloudy night sky. “So, Zeus and Poseidon, you sacrifice your children to me? The gesture is appreciated, but it will not save you.”  
  
The sky didn’t even rumble. No help from above. We were on our own.  
  
Jason dropped his makeshift club.  
  
“If you knew who I was,” he yelled up at the giant, “you’d be worried about me, not my father."

"I hope you enjoyed your two and a half minutes of rebirth, bro, because we're going to send you right back to Tartarus!" I sounded more confident than I felt, thank the gods.  
  
The giant’s eyes narrowed. He planted one foot outside the pool and crouched to get a better look at his opponents. “So... we’ll start by boasting, will we? Just like old times! Very well, demigod. I am Porphyrion, king of the giants, son of Gaea. In olden times, I rose from Tartarus, the abyss of my father, to challenge the gods. To start the war, I stole Zeus’s queen.” He grinned at the goddess’s cage. “Hello, Hera.”  
  
“My husband destroyed you once, monster!” Hera said. “He’ll do it again!”  
  
“But he didn’t, my dear! Zeus wasn’t powerful enough to kill me. He had to rely on a puny demigod to help, and even then, we almost won. This time, we will complete what we started. Gaea is waking. She has provisioned us with many fine servants. Our armies will shake the earth - and we will destroy you at the roots.”  
  
“You wouldn’t dare,” Hera said, but she was weakening. I could hear it in her voice. Usually, this would've pleased me, but the situation wasn't great.  
  
“Oh, yes,” the giant said. “The Titans sought to attack your new home in New York. Bold, but ineffective. Gaea is wiser and more patient. And we, her greatest children, are much, much stronger than Kronos. We know how to kill you Olympians once and for all. You must be dug up completely like rotten trees - your eldest roots torn out and burned.”  
  
The giant frowned at Piper and Leo, as if he’d just noticed them working at the cage. Jason stepped forward and yelled to get back Porphyrion’s attention.  
  
“You said a demigod killed you,” he shouted. “How, if we’re so puny?”  
  
“Ha! You think I would explain it to you? I was created to be Zeus’s replacement, born to destroy the lord of the sky. I shall take his throne. I shall take his wife - or, if she will not have me, I will let the earth consume her life force. What you see before you, child, is only my weakened form. I will grow stronger by the hour, until I am invincible. But I am already quite capable of smashing you to a grease spot!”  
  
He rose to his full height and held out his hand. A twenty-foot spear shot from the earth. He grasped it, then stomped the ground with his dragon’s feet. The ruins shook. All around the courtyard, monsters started to regather - storm spirits, wolves, and Earthborn, all answering the giant king’s call.  
  
“Great,” I muttered. “Because more enemies was exactly what we needed.”  
  
“Hurry,” Hera said.  
  
“I know!” Leo snapped.  
  
“Go to sleep, cage,” Piper said. “Nice, sleepy cage. Yes, I’m talking to a bunch of earthen tendrils. This isn’t weird at all.”  
  
Porphyrion raked his spear across the top of the ruins, destroying a chimney and spraying wood and stone across the courtyard. “So, children! I have finished my boasting. Now it’s your turn. What were you saying about destroying me?”  
  
Jason looked at the ring of monsters, waiting impatiently for their master’s order to tear them to shreds. Leo’s circular saw kept whirring, and Piper kept talking, but it seemed hopeless. Hera’s cage was almost completely filled with earth.  
  
“I’m the son of Jupiter!” he shouted, and just for effect, he summoned the winds, rising a few feet off the ground. Show-off. “I’m a child of Rome, consul to demigods, praetor of the First Legion.” I didn’t know quite what he was saying, but he rattled off the words like he’d said them many times before. He held out his arms, showing the tattoo of the eagle and SPQR, and to my surprise the giant seemed to recognize it.  
  
For a moment, Porphyrion actually looked uneasy.

"I'm the sole daughter of Poseidon," I added. "I'm the lead strategist of Camp Half-Blood. I came up with the plans that defeated Typhon, that kept Kronos' armies from reaching Olympus. I've sailed the Sea of Monsters and lived to tell the tale. I've navigated the Labyrinth, and I've killed the Minotaur - _twice_. I held held the weight of the sky on my shoulders, and I've beat at least a third of Kronos' armies with nothing but my powers and these daggers."  
  
“I slew the Trojan sea monster,” Jason continued on from me. “I toppled the black throne of Kronos, and destroyed the Titan Krios with my own hands. And now I’m going to destroy you, Porphyrion, and feed you to your own wolves.”  
  
“Wow, dudes,” Leo muttered. “Y'all been eating red meat?”  
  
We charged the giant.  
  
The idea of fighting a forty-foot-tall immortal bare handed was so ridiculous, even the giant seemed surprised. Half flying, half leaping, Jason landed on the giant’s scaly reptilian knee and climbed up the giant’s arm before Porphyrion even realized what had happened.  
  
“You dare?” the giant bellowed.  
  
Jason reached his shoulders and ripped a sword out of the giant’s weapon-filled braids. He yelled, “For Rome!” and drove the sword into the nearest convenient target - the giant’s massive ear.  
  
Lightning streaked out of the sky and blasted the sword, throwing Jason free. He rolled when he hit the ground. When he looked up, the giant was staggering. His hair was on fire, and the side of his face was blackened from lightning. The sword had splintered in his ear. Golden ichor ran down his jaw. The other weapons were sparking and smoldering in his braids.

I yelled out and struck the earth with both of my daggers, cracking it at least half a mile deep. The ground shook.  
  
Porphyrion almost fell into the chasm. The circle of monsters let out a collective growl and moved forward - wolves and ogres fixing their eyes on us.  
  
“No!” Porphyrion yelled. He regained his balance and glared at the two of us. “I will kill them myself.”  
  
The giant raised his spear and it began to glow. “You want to play with lightning, boy? You forget. I am the bane of Zeus. I was created to destroy your father, which means I know exactly what will kill you."

Something in Porphyrion’s voice told me he wasn’t bluffing.  
  
Just as I was about to pull my last trick - something that I hadn't attempted since the battle of the Labyrinth - when Leo yelled "Got it!"  
  
“Sleep!” Piper said, so forcefully, the nearest wolves fell to the ground and began snoring.  
  
The stone and wood cage crumbled. Leo had sawed through the base of the thickest tendril and apparently cut off the cage’s connection to Gaea. The tendrils turned to dust. The mud around Hera disintegrated. The goddess grew in size, glowing with power.  
  
“Yes!” the goddess said. She threw off her black robes to reveal a white gown, her arms bedecked with golden jewelry. Her face was both terrible and beautiful, and a golden crown glowed in her long black hair. “Now I shall have my revenge!”  
  
The giant Porphyrion backed away. He said nothing, but he gave us one last look of hatred. His message was clear: _Another time_. Then he slammed his spear against the earth, and the giant disappeared into the ground like he’d dropped down a chute.  
  
Around the courtyard, monsters began to panic and retreat, but there was no escape for them.  
  
Hera glowed brighter. She shouted, “Cover your eyes, my heroes!”

I looked over, and Jason was still looking. He'd understood too late. I slapped my hand over his eyes as well as my own. When the tingling on my skin ended, I opened my eyes to see the aftereffects of the goddess' nuclear-mode.

Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before - still ruins, but with no evidence that they’d been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres. Next to me, however, Jason was lying on the ground, steaming slightly.

“Jase!” I knelt next to him and cradled his head in my lap. Piper and Leo rushed over, but Hera took her time, looking mournful.

"There has to be something we can do," I said, voice cracking, but even as I said it, I couldn't tell if he was breathing.  
  
Piper kept calling his name as I held him, but I was losing hope. He’d been unconscious for two minutes now.  
  
“It’s no use, child.” Hera stood over them in her simple black robes and shawl.  
  
Most of the now-revived Hunters waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but Thalia knelt by our side, her hand on Jason’s forehead.  
  
Thalia glared up at the goddess. “This is your fault. Do something!”  
  
“Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen-”  
  
“Fix him!”  
  
Hera’s eyes flickered with power. “I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told them to close their eyes before I revealed my true form.”  
  
“Um...” Leo frowned. “True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?”  
  
“I unleashed my power to help you, fool!” Hera cried. “I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice.”

"Jason is mortal!" I shouted. "You knew he couldn't look upon you in that form! You've killed him!"  
  
Leo shook his head in dismay. “That’s what our prophecy meant. Death unleash, through Hera’s rage. Come on, lady. You’re a goddess. Do some voodoo magic on him! Bring him back.”

I heard a raspy sound, and focused on Jason's face.

“He’s breathing!” I announced.  
  
“Impossible,” Hera said. “I wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever-”  
  
“Jason,” Piper took over. “Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You’re going to be fine.”  
  
Nothing happened. Had I imagined his breath stirring?  
  
“Healing is not a power of Aphrodite,” Hera said regretfully. “Even I cannot fix this, girl. His mortal spirit-”  
  
“Jason,” Piper said again, and I felt her voice traveling through the ground, all the way down to the Underworld. “Wake up.”  
  
He gasped, and his eyes flew open. For a moment they were full of light - glowing pure gold. Then the light faded and his eyes were normal again. “What- what happened?”  
  
“Impossible!” Hera said.

I engulfed Jason in a hug until he groaned, “Crushing me.”  
  
“Sorry,” I said, so relieved, I laughed while furiously wiping tears from my face.

Thalia gripped her brother’s hand. “How do you feel?”  
  
“Hot,” he muttered. “Mouth is dry. And I saw something.. really terrible.”  
  
“That was Hera,” Thalia grumbled. “Her Majesty, the Loose Cannon.”  
  
“That’s it, Thalia Grace,” said the goddess. “I will turn you into an aardvark, so help me-”  
  
“Stop it, you two,” Piper said. Amazingly, they both shut up.  
  
Piper and I helped Jason to his feet and gave him the last nectar from our supplies.  
  
“Now...” Piper faced Thalia and Hera. “Hera - Your Majesty - we couldn’t have rescued you without the Hunters. And Thalia, you never would’ve seen Jason again - we wouldn’t have even met him - if it weren’t for Hera. You two make nice, because we’ve got bigger problems.”  
  
They both glared at her, and for three long seconds, I wasn’t sure which one of them was going to kill her first.  
  
Finally Thalia grunted. “You’ve got spirit, Piper.” She pulled a silver card from her parka and tucked it into the pocket of Piper’s snowboarding jacket. “You ever want to be a Hunter, call me. We could use you.”  
  
Hera crossed her arms. “Fortunately for this Hunter, you have a point, daughter of Aphrodite.” She assessed Piper, as if seeing her clearly for the time. “You wondered, Piper, why I chose you for this quest, why I didn’t reveal your secret in the beginning, even when I knew Enceladus was using you. I must admit, until this moment I was not sure. Something told me you would be vital to the quest. Now I see I was right. You’re even stronger than I realized. And you are correct about the dangers to come. We must work together.”  
  
Leo stepped in.  
  
“Yeah,” he said, “I don’t suppose that Porphyrion guy just melted and died, huh?”  
  
“No,” Hera agreed. “By saving me, and saving this place, you prevented Gaea from waking. You have bought us some time. But Porphyrion has risen. He simply knew better than to stay here, especially since he has not yet regained his full power. Giants can only be killed by a combination of god and demigod, working together. Once you freed me-”  
  
“He ran away,” Jason said. “But to where?”  
  
Hera didn’t answer, but a sense of dread washed over me. I remembered what Porphyrion had said about killing the Olympians by pulling up their roots. Greece. I looked at Piper and Thalia’s grim expression, and guessed they had come to the same conclusion.  
  
“I need to find Annabeth,” Thalia said. “She has to know what’s happened here.”  
  
“Thalia...” Jason gripped her hand. “We never got to talk about this place, or-”  
  
“I know.” Her expression softened. “I lost you here once. I don’t want to leave you again. But we’ll meet soon. I’ll rendezvous with you back at Camp Half-Blood.” She glanced at Hera. “You’ll see them there safely? It’s the least you can do.”  
  
“It’s not your place to tell me-”  
  
“Queen Hera,” Piper interceded.  
  
The goddess sighed. “Fine. Yes. Just off with you, Hunter!”  
  
Thalia gave me and Jason a hug and said her good-byes. When the Hunters were gone, the courtyard seemed strangely quiet. The dry reflecting pool showed no sign of the earthen tendrils that had brought back the giant king or imprisoned Hera. The night sky was clear and starry. The wind rustled in the redwoods.  
  
“Jason, what happened to you here?” I finally asked. “I mean, I know you guys' mom abandoned you here. But you said it was sacred ground for demigods. Why? What happened after you were on your own?”  
  
Jason shook his head uneasily. “It’s still murky. The wolves...”  
  
“You were given a destiny,” Hera said. “You were given into my service.”  
  
Jason scowled. “Because you forced my mom to do that. You couldn’t stand knowing Zeus had two children with my mom. Knowing that he’d fallen for her twice. I was the price you demanded for leaving the rest of my family alone. ”  
  
“It was the right choice for you as well, Jason,” Hera insisted. “The second time your mother managed to snare Zeus’s affections, it was because she imagined him in a different aspect - the aspect of Jupiter. Never before had this happened - two children, Greek and Roman, born into the same family. You had to be separated from Thalia. This is where all demigods of your kind start their journey.”  
  
“Of his kind?” Piper asked.  
  
“She means Roman,” Jason said. “Demigods are left here. We meet the she-wolf goddess, Lupa, the same immortal wolf that raised Romulus and Remus.”  
  
Hera nodded. “And if you are strong enough, you live.”  
  
“But...” Leo looked mystified. “What happened after that? I mean, Jason never made it to camp.”  
  
“Not to Camp Half-Blood, no,” Hera agreed.  
  
Piper felt as if the sky were spiraling above her, making her dizzy. “You went somewhere else. That’s where you’ve been all these years. Somewhere else for demigods - but where?”  
  
Jason turned to the goddess. “The memories are coming back, but not the location. You’re not going to tell me, are you?”  
  
“No,” Hera said. “That is part of your destiny, Jason. You must find your own way back. But when you do... you will unite two great powers. You will give us hope against the giants, and more importantly - against Gaea herself.”  
  
“You want us to help you,” Jason said, “but you’re holding back information.”  
  
“Giving you answers would make those answers invalid,” Hera said. “That is the way of the Fates. You must forge your own path for it to mean anything. Already, you four have surprised me. I would not have thought it possible...”  
  
The goddess shook her head. “Suffice to say, you have performed well, demigods. But this is only the beginning. Now you must return to Camp Half-Blood, where you will begin planning for the next phase.”  
  
“Which you won’t tell us about,” Jason grumped. “And I suppose you destroyed my nice storm spirit horse, so we’ll have to walk home?”

"Yeah, even if I got Astra here, she'd have trouble with all four of us."

Hera waved aside the question. “Storm spirits are creatures of chaos. I did not destroy that one, though I have no idea where he went, or whether you’ll see him again. But there is an easier way home for you, one that doesn't involve horses of any kind. As you have done me a great service, so I can help you - at least this once. Farewell, demigods, for now.”  
  
The world turned upside down, and I almost blacked out.  
  
When I could see straight again, we were back at camp, in the dining pavilion, in the middle of dinner. We were standing on the Aphrodite cabin’s table, and Piper had one foot in Drew’s pizza. Sixty campers rose at once, gawking at them in astonishment.  
  
Whatever Hera had done to shoot them across the country, it wasn’t good for my stomach. I could barely control her nausea. Leo wasn’t so lucky. He jumped off the table, ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it - which was probably not a great burnt offering for the gods. I had to suppress a grin.  
  
“Jason?” Chiron trotted forward. No doubt the old centaur had seen thousands of years’ worth of weird stuff, but even he looked totally flabbergasted. “What- How-?"  
  
The Aphrodite campers stared up at Piper with their mouths open. I figured we must look awful.  
  
“'Sup,” I said, casually. “We’re back.”


	37. Chapter 37

**CHRISSIE**

The rest of that night was a blur. I remember Piper telling our story many times to the rest of the campers, but I just sat down next to Will Solace and rested my head on his shoulder. Him and I were pretty close. I also gave my mom a quick call before I went to bed, telling her we were all alive and well and back at camp. I promised her I'd come over when Annabeth was back so we could update her on everything.

After a dreamless sleep, I woke up around noon and took the longest shower ever, in the history of humanity. Hey, I deserved an easy morning after all that.

I ran into Piper, who was about to video-chat her father, and congratulated her on becoming head counselor for the Aphrodite Cabin.

At the commons area, I found Jason relaxing on a bench, a basketball between his feet. He was sweaty from working out, but he looked great in his orange tank top and shorts. His various scars and bruises from the quest were healing, thanks to some medical attention from the Apollo cabin. His arms and legs were well muscled and tan - distracting as always. His close-cropped blond hair caught the afternoon light so it looked like it was turning to gold, Midas style.  
  
"Hey, Blondie," I greeted. He smiled at me, and I sat down next to him.  
  
We watched the campers going back and forth. A couple of Demeter girls were playing tricks on two of the Apollo guys - making grass grow around their ankles as they shot baskets. Over at the camp store, the Hermes kids were putting up a sign that read: _flying shoes, slightly used, 50% off today!_ Ares kids were lining their cabin with fresh barbed wire. The Hypnos cabin was snoring away. A normal day at camp.  
  
Meanwhile, the Aphrodite kids were watching us, and trying to pretend they weren’t. I was pretty sure I saw money change hands, like they were placing bets on a kiss.  
  
“Get any sleep?” I finally asked him.  
  
He looked at me as if I’d been reading his thoughts. “Not much. Dreams.”  
  
“'Bout your past?”  
  
He nodded.

I didn't push. It was for the best that Annabeth heard this too, so I wanted to wait for her. Besides, if he wanted to talk. he would. I wasn't about to pressure him.  
  
Jason spun his basketball. “It’s not good news,” he warned. “My memories aren’t good for any of us.”  
  
“We’ll figure it out,” I promised. "After everything, we can handle it. I'm sure."  
  
He looked at me hesitantly, like he wanted very much to believe her. “Annabeth and Rachel are coming in for the meeting tonight. I should probably wait until then to explain.”  
  
“Agreed.”

I knew danger was coming, for all of us. But I also had a gut feeling it'd bring Percy back to us. Besides, for now, we were alive. That was what mattered.  
  
Jason studied me warily. His forearm tattoo was faint blue in the sunlight. “You’re in a good mood.”

"Yeah, I have a feeling whatever comes out of this will lead me back to Percy." I fiddled with my bracelet.

"How can you be so sure everything will come out okay?"

"Because I know us," I replied. "And I know you. I trust you, Jase."

Jason blinked, and slowly, he started to smile. "I trust you too."

"Hey guys," Piper sat down on my other side.

"Hey, how'd it go?" I asked.

"Alright. Got more time out of it than usual, so that's good."

I glanced over at her cabinmates, and saw them exchanging money again. Probably disappointed Jason and I didn't kiss.

A moment of silence passed, the three of us just basking in the winter sun. Finally, Jason got up and brushed off his shorts. “Leo says he’s got something to show us out in the woods. You coming?”  
  
“Duh.” I grinned and stood, grabbing Jason's hand, and offering my other hand to Piper. She took it and stood up, and I didn't miss how she took the card Thalia had given her and tossed it into a nearby fire.  
  
“Let’s go,” she told us. “We’ve got adventures to plan.”


	38. Chapter 38

**LEO**

I hadn't felt this jumpy since I'd offered tofu burgers to the werewolves. When we got to the limestone cliff in the forest, I turned to the group and smiled nervously. “Here we go.”  
  
I willed my hand to catch fire, and set it against the door.  
  
My cabinmates gasped.  
  
“Leo!” Nyssa cried. “You’re a fire user!”  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” I said. “I know.”  
  
Jake Mason, who was out of his body cast but still on crutches, said, “Holy Hephaestus. That means- it’s so rare that- ”  
  
The massive stone door swung open, and everyone’s mouth dropped. My flaming hand seemed insignificant now. Even Chrissie, Piper and Jason looked stunned, and they’d seen enough amazing things lately.  
  
Only Chiron didn’t look surprised. The centaur knit his bushy eyebrows and stroked his beard, as if the group was about to walk through a minefield.  
  
That made me even more nervous, but I couldn’t change my mind now. My instincts told my I was meant to share this place - at least with the Hephaestus cabin - and I couldn’t hide it from Chiron or my three best friends.  
  
“Welcome to Bunker Nine,” I said, as confidently as I could. “C’mon in.”  
  
The group was silent as they toured the facility. Everything was just as I had left it - giant machines, worktables, old maps and schematics. Only one thing had changed. Festus’s head was sitting on the central table, still battered and scorched from his final crash in Omaha.  
  
I went over to it, a bitter taste in my mouth, and stroked the dragon’s forehead. “I’m sorry, Festus. But I won’t forget you.”  
  
Chrissie put a hand on my shoulder. “Hephaestus brought it here for you?”  
  
I nodded.  
  
“But you can’t repair him,” Jason guessed from my other side.  
  
“No way,” I said. “But the head is going to be reused. Festus will be going with us.”  
  
Piper came over and frowned. “What do you mean?”  
  
Before I could answer, Nyssa cried out, “Guys, look at this!”  
  
She was standing at one of the worktables, flipping through a sketchbook - diagrams for hundreds of different machines and weapons.  
  
“I’ve never seen anything like these,” Nyssa said. “There are more amazing ideas here than in Daedalus’s workshop. It would take a century just to prototype them all.”  
  
“Who built this place?” Jake Mason said. “And why?”  
  
Chiron stayed silent, but I focused on the wall map I’d seen during his first visit. It showed Camp Half-Blood with a line of triremes in the Sound, catapults mounted in the hills around the valley, and spots marked for traps, trenches, and ambush sites.  
  
“It’s a wartime command center,” I said. “The camp was attacked once, wasn’t it?”  
  
“In the Titan War?” Piper asked.  
  
Nyssa shook her head. “No. Besides, that map looks really old. The date... does that say 1864?”  
  
We all turned to Chiron.  
  
The centaur’s tail swished fretfully. “This camp has been attacked many times,” he admitted. “That map is from the last Civil War.”  
  
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one confused. The other Hephaestus campers looked at each other and frowned.  
  
“Civil War...” Piper said. “You mean the American Civil War, like a hundred and fifty years ago?”  
  
“Yes and no,” Chiron said. “The two conflicts - mortal and demigod - mirrored each other, as they usually do in Western history. Look at any civil war or revolution from the fall of Rome onward, and it marks a time when demigods also fought one another. But that Civil War was particularly horrible. For American mortals, it is still their bloodiest conflict of all time - worse than their casualties in the two World Wars. For demigods, it was equally devastating. Even back then, this valley was Camp Half-Blood. There was a horrible battle in these woods lasting for days, with terrible losses on both sides.”  
  
“Both sides,” I said. “You mean the camp split apart?”  
  
“No,” Jason spoke up. “He means two different groups. Camp Half-Blood was one side in the war.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer, but I asked, “Who was the other?”  
  
Chiron glanced up at the tattered bunker 9 banner, as if remembering the day it was raised.  
  
“The answer is dangerous,” he warned. “It is something I swore upon the River Styx never to speak of. After the American Civil War, the gods were so horrified by the toll it took on their children, that they swore it would never happen again. The two groups were separated. The gods bent all their will, wove the Mist as tightly as they could, to make sure the enemies never remembered each other, never met on their quests, so that bloodshed could be avoided. This map is from the final dark days of 1864, the last time the two groups fought. We’ve had several close calls since then. The nineteen sixties were particularly dicey. But we’ve managed to avoid another civil war - at least so far. Just as Leo guessed, this bunker was a command center for the Hephaestus cabin. In the last century, it has been reopened a few times, usually as a hiding place in times of great unrest. But coming here is dangerous. It stirs old memories, awakens the old feuds. Even when the Titans threatened last year, I did not think it worth the risk to use this place.”  
  
Suddenly my sense of triumph turned to guilt. “Hey, look, this place found me. It was meant to happen. It’s a good thing.”  
  
“I hope you’re right,” Chiron said.  
  
“I am!” I pulled the old drawing out of my pocket and spread it on the table for everyone to see.  
  
“There,” I said proudly. “Aeolus returned that to me. I drew it when I was five. That’s my destiny.”  
  
Nyssa frowned. “Leo, it’s a crayon drawing of a boat.”  
  
“Look.” I pointed at the largest schematic on the bulletin board - the blueprint showing a Greek trireme. Slowly, his cabinmates’ eyes widened as they compared the two designs. The number of masts and oars, even the decorations on the shields and sails were exactly the same as on Leo’s drawing.  
  
“That’s impossible,” Nyssa said. “That blueprint has to be a century old at least.”  
  
“‘Prophecy - Unclear - Flight,’” Jake Mason read from the notes on the blueprint. “It’s a diagram for a flying ship. Look, that’s the landing gear. And weaponry - Holy Hephaestus: rotating ballista, mounted crossbows, Celestial bronze plating. That thing would be one spankin’ hot war machine. Was it ever made?”  
  
“Not yet,” I said. “Look at the masthead.”  
  
There was no doubt - the figure at the front of the ship was the head of a dragon. A very particular dragon.  
  
“Festus,” Chrissie said. Everyone turned and looked at the dragon’s head sitting on the table.  
  
“He’s meant to be our masthead,” I said. “Our good luck charm, our eyes at sea. I’m supposed to build this ship. I’m gonna call it the Argo II. And guys, I’ll need your help.”  
  
“The Argo II.” Piper said. “After the first Jason’s ship."

"Let's hope we don't run into Medea again,” Chrissie joked.  
  
Jason looked a little uncomfortable, but he nodded. “Leo’s right. That ship is just what we need for our journey.”  
  
“What journey?” Nyssa said. “You just got back!”  
  
Piper ran her fingers over the old crayon drawing. “We’ve got to confront Porphyrion, the giant king. He said he would destroy the gods at their roots.”  
  
“Indeed,” Chiron said. “Much of Rachel’s Great Prophecy is still a mystery to me, but one thing is clear. You four - Chrissie, Jason, Piper, and Leo - are among the eight demigods who must take on that quest. You must confront the giants in their homeland, where they are strongest. You must stop them before they can wake Gaea fully, before they destroy Mount Olympus.”  
  
“Um...” Nyssa shifted. “You don’t mean Manhattan, do you?”  
  
“No,” I said. “The original Mount Olympus. We have to sail to Greece.”


	39. Chapter 39

**CHRISSIE**

It took a few minutes for that to settle in. Then the other Hephaestus campers started asking questions all at once. _Who were the other four demigods? How long would it take to build the boat? Why didn’t everyone get to go to Greece?_  
  
“Heroes!” Chiron struck his hoof on the floor. “All the details are not clear yet, but Leo is correct. He will need your help to build the Argo II. It is perhaps the greatest project Cabin Nine has even undertaken, even greater than the bronze dragon.”  
  
“It’ll take a year at least,” Nyssa guessed. “Do we have that much time?”  
  
“You have six months at most,” Chiron said. “You should sail by summer solstice, when the gods’ power is strongest. Besides, we evidently cannot trust the wind gods, and the summer winds are the least powerful and easiest to navigate. You dare not sail any later, or you may be too late to stop the giants. You must avoid ground travel, using only air and sea, so this vehicle is perfect. Jason being the son of the sky god...”  
  
His voice trailed off, but I knew what, or rather _who_ he meant. My brother would be perfect to join us. If my gut was right, though, he would - I just didn't know how, or when.

Jake Mason turned to Leo. “Well, one thing’s for sure. You are now senior counselor. This is the biggest honor the cabin has ever had. Anyone object?”  
  
Nobody did. All his cabinmates smiled at him, and I could almost feel their cabin’s curse breaking, their sense of hopelessness melting away.  
  
“It’s official, then,” Jake said. “You’re the man.”  
  
For once, Leo was speechless.  
  
“Well,” he said at last, “if you guys elect me leader, you must be even crazier than I am. So let’s build a spankin’ hot war machine!”

When I sat down at the lake, I felt a familiar sensation take over me, and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them, I was at Montauk.

"What, no hug?" I heard from behind me.

"Dad!" I turned around and slung my arms around Poseidon. He chuckled and patted me on the back. When I pulled back, his face was less grim than last time.

"I'm proud of you, kiddo," he said, that familiar twinkle returning to his eyes.

"Thanks, dad." I paused. "I don't suppose you can give me a hint about Percy?"

"No, I'm sorry. But we both know he'll survive long enough for you to beat him up when you find him, don't we?"

I smiled at his words. "Yeah, I know."

"My sister is done visiting your boyfriend. You should go get him, Chiron will be waiting. Say hi to your mother and her boyfriend for me, when you see them."

With that, I blinked, and I was back at the camp lake.

I stood up and walked over to the cabins. I passed my own, and knocked on the door to Cabin one. The door swung open to reveal Jason holding a new golden sword.

"Chiron has summoned the council," I said.

I loved the look on Jason's face when he walked into the Big House rec room. The council, as per usual, was around the ping-pong table, and Peter the satyr was serving nachos and sodas. Someone, probably Travis, has brought Seymour in from the living room and hung him on the wall. Every once in a while, a counselor would toss him a Snausage.  
  
Jason looked around the room, looking nervous. I was sat next to him, with Leo on his other side and Piper on mine - it was their first meeting as senior counselors. Clarisse, leader of the Ares cabin, had her boots on the table, but nobody cared. Clovis was snoring in the corner while Butch was seeing how many pencils he could fit in Clovis’s nostrils. Travis Stoll was holding a lighter under a Ping-Pong ball to see if it would burn, and Will Solace was absently wrapping and unwrapping an Ace bandage around his wrist. Lou Ellen Blackstone was playing “got-your-nose” with Miranda Gardiner, but Lou Ellen really had magically disconnected Miranda’s nose, and Miranda was trying to get it back.

Thalia hadn't shown up yet, but she was probably just sidetracked running some quest for Artemis.  
  
Rachel sat next to Chiron at the head of the table. She was wearing her Clarion Academy school uniform dress, and she smiled at us.  
  
Annabeth didn’t look so relaxed. She wore armor over her camp clothes, with her knife at her side and her blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. As soon as Jason walked in, she fixed him with an expectant look, as if she were trying to extract information out of him by sheer willpower. I'd hugged her to calm her down.  
  
“Let’s come to order,” Chiron said, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Lou Ellen, please give Miranda her nose back. Travis, if you’d kindly extinguish the flaming Ping-Pong ball, and Butch, I think twenty pencils is really too many for any human nostril. Thank you. Now, as you can see, Chrissie, Jason, Piper, and Leo have returned successfully... more or less. Some of you have heard parts of their story, but I will let them fill you in.”  
  
Everyone looked at Jason. He cleared his throat and began the story. The three of us chimed in from time to time, filling in the details he forgot.  
  
It only took a few minutes, but it seemed like longer with everyone watching him. The silence was heavy, and for so many ADHD demigods to sit still listening for that long, Jason knew the story must have sounded pretty wild. He ended with Hera’s visit right before the meeting.  
  
“So Hera was here,” Annabeth said. “Talking to you.”  
  
Jason nodded. “Look, I’m not saying I trust her-”  
  
“That’s smart,” Annabeth said.  
  
“-but she isn’t making this up about another group of demigods. That’s where I came from.”

“Romans.” Clarisse tossed Seymour a Snausage. “You expect us to believe there’s another camp with demigods, but they follow the Roman forms of the gods. And we’ve never even heard of them.”  
  
I sat forward. “The gods have kept the two groups apart. Every time they meet, things go horribly wrong, usually ending in bloodshed."  
  
“I can respect that,” Clarisse said. “Still, why haven’t we ever run across each other on quests?”  
  
“Oh, yes,” Chiron said sadly. “You have, many times. It’s always a tragedy, and always the gods do their best to wipe clean the memories of those involved. The rivalry goes all the way back to the Trojan War, Clarisse. The Greeks invaded Troy and burned it to the ground. The Trojan hero Aeneas escaped, and eventually made his way to Italy, where he founded the race that would someday become Rome. The Romans grew more and more powerful, worshipping the same gods but under different names, and with slightly different personalities.”  
  
“More warlike,” Jason said. “More united. More about expansion, conquest, and discipline.”  
  
“Yuck,” Travis put in.  
  
Several of the others looked equally uncomfortable, though Clarisse shrugged like it sounded okay to her.  
  
Annabeth twirled her knife on the table. “And the Romans hated the Greeks. They took revenge when they conquered the Greek isles, and made them part of the Roman Empire.”  
  
“Not exactly hated them,” Jason said. “The Romans admired Greek culture, and were a little jealous. In return, the Greeks thought the Romans were barbarians, but they respected their military power. So during Roman times, demigods started to divide - either Greek or Roman.”  
  
“And it’s been that way ever since,” Annabeth guessed. “But this is crazy. Chiron, where were the Romans during the Titan War? Didn’t they want to help?”  
  
Chiron tugged at his beard. “They did help, Annabeth. While you two girls and Percy were leading the battle to save Manhattan, who do think conquered Mount Othrys, the Titans’ base in California?”  
  
“Hold on,” Travis said. “You said Mount Othrys just crumbled when we beat Kronos.”  
  
“No,” Jason said. “It didn’t just fall. We destroyed their palace. I defeated the Titan Krios myself.”  
  
Annabeth’s eyes were as stormy as a ventus. I could almost see her thoughts moving, putting the pieces together. “The Bay Area. We demigods were always told to stay away from it because Mount Othrys was there. But that wasn’t the only reason, was it? The Roman camp - it’s got to be somewhere near San Francisco. I bet it was put there to keep watch on the Titans’ territory. Where is it?”  
  
Chiron shifted in his wheelchair. “I cannot say. Honestly, even I have never been trusted with that information. My counterpart, Lupa, is not exactly the sharing type. Jason’s memory, too, has been burned away.”  
  
“The camp’s heavily veiled with magic,” Jason said. “And heavily guarded. We could search for years and never find it.”  
  
Rachel Dare laced her fingers. Of all the people in the room, only she didn’t seem nervous about the conversation. “But you’ll try, won’t you? You’ll build Leo’s boat, the Argo II. And before you make for Greece, you’ll sail for the Roman camp. You’ll need their help to confront the giants.”  
  
“Bad plan,” Clarisse warned. “If those Romans see a warship coming, they’ll assume we’re attacking.”  
  
“You’re probably right,” Jason agreed. “But we have to try. I was sent here to learn about Camp Half-Blood, to try to convince you the two camps don’t have to be enemies. A peace offering.”  
  
“Hmm,” Rachel said. “Because Hera is convinced we need both camps to win the war with the giants. Seven heroes of Olympus - some Greek, some Roman.”  
  
Annabeth nodded. “Your Great Prophecy - what’s the last line?”  
  
“And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.”  
  
“Gaea has opened the Doors of Death,” I said. “She’s letting out the worst villains of the Underworld to fight us. Medea, Midas - there’ll be more, I’m certain of it. Maybe the line means that the Roman and Greek demigods will unite, and find the doors, and close them.”  
  
“Or it could mean they fight each other at the doors of death,” Clarisse pointed out. “It doesn’t say we’ll cooperate.”  
  
There was silence as the campers let that happy thought sink in.  
  
“I’m going,” Annabeth said. “Jason, when you get this ship built, let me go with you.”  
  
“I was hoping you’d offer,” Jason said. “You and Chrissie together - we’ll need you.”  
  
“Wait.” Leo frowned. “I mean that’s cool with me and all. But why Annabeth of all people?”  
  
Annabeth and Jason studied one another.  
  
“Hera said my coming here was an exchange of leaders,” Jason finally said. “A way for the two camps to learn of each other’s existence.”  
  
“Yeah?” Leo said. “So?”

“An exchange goes two ways,” Jason said. “When I got here, my memory was wiped. I didn’t know who I was or where I belonged. Fortunately, you guys took me in and I found a new home. I know you’re not my enemy. The Roman camp - they’re not so friendly. You prove your worth quickly, or you don’t survive. They may not be so nice to him, and if they learn where he comes from, he’s going to be in serious trouble."

“Him?” Leo said. “Who are you talking about?”

“My brother,” I said. “He disappeared around the same time Jason appeared. If Jason came to Camp Half-Blood-”

“Exactly,” Jason agreed. “Percy Jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn’t even remember who he is.”


	40. Chapter 40

**JASON**

When Chrissie invited us for brunch at her mom's place, I hadn't expected all of the food to be blue.

She'd told us the day before that her mother and her boyfriend wanted the five of us - Chrissie, Annabeth, Piper, Leo and me - to come over for Easter Sunday. She'd already arranged for the timetable on the Argo II to be moved around (the Hephaestus Cabin would make the mast today) and for the cabin activities to be done my Piper's brother Mitchell and Annabeth's brother Malcolm. Paul, Chrissie's step-father, had picked us up in a blue Prius, where Annabeth sat in front and the rest of us squeezed into the backseat.

As we drove, Chrissie told us about the time Blackjack had stepped all over the car, and the time Paul and her mother drove to the Empire State Building to help out during the Battle of Olympus. She told us about her mother learning how to shoot a shotgun on the scene, and how Paul's Shakespearean acting classes paid off when he got his hands on a sword.

"So, do you guys know where this Roman camp is yet?" Paul asked as we drove through the streets of New York City.

"Yeah, we're getting closer to an exact location," I supplied.

"Good. Hey, before you go in, just don't mind the mess, okay?" Paul parked the car, and we all got out.

The apartment was home-y. The mess wasn't half as bad as I'd expected, Chrissie's cabin was way worse. Queen was playing in the background, and a woman was flipping pancakes.

"Mom!" Chrissie rushed forward and hugged her. Sally Jackson had brownish hair, with a few gray streaks, but she didn't look old at all. She had the same smile crinkles as Chrissie, just like I saw in the photograph back on our quest. Annabeth was next for a hug, then she came over to us.

"I'll assume the blond one is Jason?" she asked Chrissie, who nodded. She turned at me and smiled, pulling me into an unexpected hug. "Well, welcome to the family, Jason. You break her heart, you get that" - she pointed at the pan on the stove - "on your face."

"Mom," Chrissie groaned, but Sally waved her off.

"And you two must be Leo and Piper, welcome." She hugged them as well, and I could finally see where Chrissie gets it from.

"So, the waffles are done, and so are the eggs, but the last couple of pancakes need a few more minutes, so how about Chrissie shows you all her room, and Paul and I get the table ready." Before any of us could argue, Sally went back to the kitchen.

"C'mon, guys," Chrissie and Annabeth led us into a hallway. Two doors stood next to each other at the end, one with a blue 'P' on the front, one with a dark green 'C'. She opened the latter, and led us into her bedroom.

It was even messier than Cabin Three.

Clothes were everywhere, old homework was still strewn across the small desk, and her small bookshelf was bursting with photo albums and loose pictures. A jewelry box stood open, silver necklaces and bracelets hanging over its edges. A box of silver rings with varying sizes and decorations stood next to it, and a polaroid of her mother - albeit much younger - was laid next to it.

"Make yourselves at home," Chrissie said, throwing some clothes on the ground to clear out the huge beanbag chair, desk chair and the bed. She opened the door to the balcony to let fresh air in.

Annabeth sat on the desk chair and Leo and Piper claimed the beanbag together, leaving Chrissie and me to sit on the bed. I looked around to see a plethora of drawings, paintings and nature pictures plastered on the wall above her bed.

"You made all of these?" I asked her. She nodded absentmindedly, flipping through a sketchpad. She then stood up on the bed and grabbed a bottle of a shelf, and used it to water the cacti next to it.

"Food's ready!" Sally called out from the kitchen. We all piled out of the room, and when we reached the table, it was covered in goodies. The least strange were the bowls of blueberries and the blue-painted eggs. Aside from those, the waffles and pancakes were blue, and so were the scrambled eggs on everyone's plate. A bowl of blue corn chips stood next to bluish guacamole. Leo, Piper and I shared a look, but Chrissie, Annabeth, Sally and Paul acted as if this was an everyday occurrence.

I shrugged as everyone dug in.

The food was amazing. Sally Jackson could _cook_.

Pretty soon, the conversation had lapsed into old jokes about the twins from when they were young.

"Wait, so your first reaction was to _throw_ the bike?" Leo asked, incredulously. Sally was telling us about the time Chrissie got laughed at in kindergarten for falling off her bike, and how she got in trouble for losing her temper.

Chrissie simply shrugged. "Got Dad's temper."

"Are we not talking about a five-year-old girl being strong enough to throw it?" Piper broke in.

"I was stronger than Percy at that age. He hated it," Chrissie bragged. "He caught up soon enough, but I will forever bathe in the glory of being stronger age four and a half to six."

I snorted rather unattractively, but Chrissie still winked at me, popping a bite of blue pancake in her mouth.

"I gotta ask," Leo finally broke the small, but comfortable silence. "Why's all the food blue? Is it like a Poseidon thing?"

Sally smirked. "No, it was my way to rebel against Gabe."

"Gabe?" I asked.

Chrissie took over. "Percy and I called him Smelly Gabe, and for good reason. Mom married him because his revolting stink masked our demigod smell."

"He once said that there's no such thing as blue food, so I only made blue food from then on." Sally smiled. "We carried on the tradition after the twins didn't need Gabe anymore."

"What happened to him?" Piper asked. "Did you get a divorce?"

A twinkle of amusement got into Chrissie's eyes. "Nah. He went missing, and mom sold her first and only statue to kickstart her writing career, which is how she met Paul."

"Did I ever mention we ran into Medusa that first quest?" Annabeth put in, and it was probably the first time I'd seen her genuinely smile.

I connected the dots, and looked at Sally in shock. Apparently, I had to take the break-her-heart threat more seriously.


	41. Chapter 41

**PERCY**

The morning after the fight, Hazel, Frank and I ate breakfast early, then headed into the city before the senate was due to convene. As I was a praetor now, I could go pretty much wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted.  
  
On the way, we passed the stables, where Tyson and Mrs. O’Leary were sleeping in. Tyson snored on a bed of hay next to the unicorns, a blissful look on his face like he was dreaming of ponies. Mrs. O’Leary had rolled on her back and covered her ears with her paws. On the stable roof, Ella roosted in a pile of old Roman scrolls, her head tucked under her wings.  
  
When we got to the forum, we sat by the fountains and watched the sun come up. The citizens were already busy sweeping up cupcake simulations, confetti, and party hats from last night’s celebration. The engineer corps was working on a new arch that would commemorate the victory over Polybotes.  
  
Hazel said she’d even heard talk of a formal triumph for the three of us - a parade around the city followed by a week of games and celebrations - but I knew we’d never get the chance. We didn’t have time.  
  
I told them about my dream of Juno.  
  
Hazel frowned. “The gods were busy last night. Show him, Frank.”  
  
Frank reached into his coat pocket. I thought he might bring out his piece of firewood, but instead he produced a thin paperback book and a note on red stationery.  
  
“These were on my pillow this morning.” He passed them to me. “Like the Tooth Fairy visited.”  
  
The book was The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I had never heard of it, but I could guess who sent it. The letter read: _Good job, kid. A real man’s best weapon is his mind. This was your mom’s favorite book. Give it a read. P.S. - I hope your friend Percy has learned some respect for me._  
  
“Wow.” I handed back the book. “Maybe Mars is different than Ares. I don’t think Ares can read.”  
  
Frank flipped through the pages. “There’s a lot in hereabout sacrifice, knowing the cost of war. Back in Vancouver, Mars told me I’d have to put my duty ahead of my life or the entire war would go sideways. I thought he meant freeing Thanatos, but now... I don’t know. I’m still alive, so maybe the worst is yet to come.”  
  
He glanced nervously at me, and I got the feeling Frank wasn’t telling me everything. I wondered if Mars had said something about me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.  
  
Besides, Frank had already given enough. He had watched his family home burn down. He’d lost his mother and his grandmother.  
  
“You risked your life,” I said. “You were willing to burn up to save the quest. Mars can’t expect more than that.”  
  
“Maybe,” Frank said doubtfully.  
  
Hazel squeezed Frank’s hand.  
  
They seemed more comfortable around each other this morning, not quite as nervous and awkward. I wondered if they’d started dating. I hoped so, but decided it was better not to ask.  
  
“Hazel, how about you?” I asked. “Any word from Pluto?”  
  
She looked down. Several diamonds popped out of the ground at her feet. “No,” she admitted. “In a way, I think he sent a message through Thanatos. My name wasn’t on that list of escaped souls. It should have been.”  
  
“You think your dad is giving you a pass?” I asked.  
  
Hazel shrugged. “Pluto can’t visit me or even talk to me without acknowledging I’m alive. Then he’d have to enforce the laws of death and have Thanatos bring me back to the Underworld. I think my dad is turning a blind eye. I think - I think he wants me to find Nico.”  
  
I glanced at the sunrise, hoping to see a warship descending from the sky. So far, nothing.  
  
“We’ll find your brother,” I promised. “As soon as the ship gets here, we’ll sail for Rome.”  
  
Hazel and Frank exchanged uneasy looks, like they’d already talked about this.  
  
“Percy...” Frank said. “If you want us to come along, we’re in. But are you sure? I mean... we know you’ve got tons of friends at the other camp. And you could pick anyone at Camp Jupiter now. If we’re not part of the eight, we’d understand-”  
  
“Are you kidding?” I said. “You think I’d leave my team behind? After surviving Fleecy’s wheat germ, running from cannibals, and hiding under blue giant butts in Alaska? Come on!”  
  
The tension broke. All three of us started cracking up, maybe a little too much, but it was a relief to be alive, with the warm sun shining, and not worrying - at least for the moment - about sinister faces appearing in the shadows of the hills.  
  
Hazel took a deep breath. “The prophecy Ella gave us - about the child of wisdom, and the mark of Athena burning through Rome... do you know what that’s about?”  
  
I remembered my dream. Juno had warned that Annabeth had a difficult job ahead of her, and that she’d cause trouble for the quest. I couldn’t believe that, but still... it worried me.  
  
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I think there’s more to the prophecy. Maybe Ella can remember the rest of it.”  
  
Frank slipped his book into his pocket. “We need to take her with us - I mean, for her own safety. If Octavian finds out Ella has the Sibylline Books memorized...”  
  
I shuddered. Octavian used prophecies to keep his power at camp. Now that I had taken away his chance at praetor, Octavian would be looking for other ways to exert influence. If he got hold of Ella...

“You’re right,” I said. “We’ve got to protect her. I just hope we can convince her-”  
  
“Percy!” Tyson came running across the forum, Ella fluttering behind him with a scroll in her talons. When they reached the fountain, Ella dropped the scroll in my lap.  
  
“Special delivery,” she said. “From an aura. A wind spirit. Yes, Ella got a special delivery.”  
  
“Good morning, brothers!” Tyson had hay in his hair and peanut butter in his teeth. “The scroll is from Leo. He is funny and small.”  
  
The scroll looked unremarkable, but when I spread it across my lap, a video recording flickered on the parchment. A kid in Greek armor grinned up at us. He had an impish face, curly black hair, and wild eyes, like he’d just had several cups of coffee. He was sitting in a dark room with timber walls like a ship’s cabin. Oil lamps swung back and forth on the ceiling.  
  
Hazel stifled a scream.  
  
“What?” Frank asked. “What’s wrong?”  
  
Slowly, I realized the curly-haired kid looked familiar - and not just from my dreams. I’d seen that face in an old photo.  
  
“Hey!” said the guy in the video. “Greetings from your friends at Camp Half-Blood, et cetera. This is Leo. I’m the...” He looked off screen and yelled: “What’s my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or-”  
  
A girl’s voice yelled back, “Repair boy."  
  
“Very funny, Piper,” Leo grumbled.

"What, you prefer court jester?" I grinned - my sister was coming.

The boy rolled his eyes turned back to the parchment screen. “So yeah, I’m... ah... supreme commander of the Argo II. Yeah, I like that! Anyway, we’re gonna be sailing toward you in about, I dunno, an hour in this big mother warship. We’d appreciate it if you’d not, like, blow us out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigodishness, and all that. Peace out.”  
  
The parchment turned blank.  
  
“It can’t be,” Hazel said.  
  
“What?” Frank asked. “You know that guy?”  
  
Hazel looked like she’d seen a ghost. I understood why. I remembered the photo in Hazel’s abandoned house in Seward. The kid on the warship looked exactly like Hazel’s old boyfriend.  
  
“It’s Sammy Valdez,” she said. “But how... how-”  
  
“It can’t be,” I said. “That guy’s name is Leo. And it’s been seventy-something years. It has to be a...”  
  
I wanted to say a coincidence, but I couldn’t make myself believe that. Over the past few years I’d seen a lot of things: destiny, prophecy, magic, monsters, fate. But I’d never yet run across a coincidence.  
  
We were interrupted by horns blowing in the distance. The senators came marching into the forum with Reyna at the lead.  
  
“It’s meeting time,” I said. “Come on. We’ve got to warn them about the warship.”  
  
“Why should we trust these Greeks?” Octavian was saying.  
  
He’d been pacing the senate floor for five minutes, going on and on, trying to counter what I had told them about Juno’s plan and the Prophecy of Eight.  
  
The senate shifted restlessly, but most of them were too afraid to interrupt Octavian while he was on a roll. Meanwhile the sun climbed in the sky, shining through the broken senate roof and giving Octavian a natural spotlight.  
  
The Senate House was packed. Queen Hylla, Frank, and Hazel sat in the front row with the senators. Veterans and ghosts filled the back rows. Even Tyson and Ella had been allowed to sit in the back. Tyson kept waving and grinning at me.  
  
Reyna and I occupied matching praetors’ chairs on the dais, which made me self-conscious. It wasn’t easy looking dignified wearing a bed sheet and a purple cape.  
  
“The camp is safe,” Octavian continued. “I’ll be the first to congratulate our heroes for bringing back the legion’s eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?”  
  
“I’m glad you asked.” I stood, taking the question as an opening.  
  
Octavian stammered, “I wasn’t-”  
  
“-part of the quest,” I said. “Yes, I know. And you’re wise to let me explain, since I was.”  
  
Some of the senators snickered. Octavian had no choice but to sit down and try not to look embarrassed.  
  
“Gaea is waking,” I said. “We’ve defeated two of her giants, but that’s only the beginning. The real war will take place in the old land of the gods. The quest will take us to Rome, and eventually to Greece.”  
  
An uneasy ripple spread through the senate.  
  
“I know, I know,” Percy said. “You’ve always thought of the Greeks as your enemies. And there’s a good reason for that. I think the gods have kept our two camps apart because whenever we meet, we fight. But that can change. It has to change if we’re to defeat Gaea. That’s what the Prophecy of Eight means. Eight demigods, Greek and Roman, will have to close the Doors of Death together.”  
  
“Ha!” shouted a Lar from the back row. “The last time a praetor tried to interpret the Prophecy of Seven, it was Michael Varus, who lost our eagle in Alaska! Why should we believe you now?”  
  
Octavian smiled smugly. Some of his allies in the senate began nodding and grumbling. Even some of the veterans looked uncertain.  
  
“I carried Juno across the Tiber,” I reminded them, speaking as firmly as I could. “She told me that the Prophecy of Eight is coming to pass. Mars also appeared to you in person. Do you think two of your most important gods would appear at camp if the situation wasn’t serious?”

“He’s right,” Gwen said from the second row. “I, for one, trust Percy’s word. Greek or not, he restored the honor of the legion. You saw him on the battlefield last night. Would anyone here say he is not a true hero of Rome?”  
  
Nobody argued. A few nodded in agreement.  
  
Reyna stood. I watched her anxiously. Her opinion could change everything - for better or worse.  
  
“You claim this is a combined quest,” she said. “You claim Juno intends for us to work with this - this other group, Camp Half-Blood. Yet the Greeks have been our enemies for eons. They are known for their deceptions.”  
  
“Maybe so,” Percy said. “But enemies can become friends. A week ago, would you have thought Romans and Amazons would be fighting side by side?”  
  
Queen Hylla laughed. “He’s got a point.”  
  
“The demigods of Camp Half-Blood have already been working with Camp Jupiter,” Percy said. “We just didn’t realize it. During the Titan War last summer, while you were attacking Mount Othrys, we were defending Mount Olympus in Manhattan. I fought Kronos myself.”  
  
Reyna backed up, almost tripping over her toga. “You... what?”

“I know it’s hard to believe,” I said. “But I think I’ve earned your trust. I’m on your side. Hazel and Frank - I’m sure they’re meant to go with me on this quest. The other four are on their way from Camp Half-Blood right now. One of them is Jason Grace, your old praetor.”  
  
“Oh, come on!” Octavian shouted. “He’s making things up, now.”  
  
Reyna frowned. “It is a lot to believe. Jason is coming back with a bunch of Greek demigods? You say they’re going to appear in the sky in a heavily armed warship, but we shouldn’t be worried.”  
  
“Yes.” I looked over the rows of nervous, doubtful spectators. “Just let them land. Hear them out. Jason will backup everything I’m telling you. I swear it on my life.”  
  
“On your life?” Octavian looked meaningfully at the senate. “We will remember that, if this turns out to be a trick.”  
  
Right on cue, a messenger rushed into the Senate House, gasping as if he’d run all the way from camp. “Praetors! I’m sorry to interrupt, but our scouts report-”  
  
“Ship!” Tyson said happily, pointing at the hole in the ceiling. “Yay!  
  
Sure enough, a Greek warship appeared out of the clouds, about a half a mile away, descending toward the Senate House. As it got closer, I could see bronze shields glinting along the sides, billowing sails, and a familiar-looking figurehead shaped like a metal dragon. On the tallest mast, a big white flag of truce snapped in the wind.

The Argo II. It was the most incredible ship I’d ever seen.  
  
“Praetors!” the messenger cried. “What are your orders?”  
  
Octavian shot to his feet. “You need to ask?” His face was red with rage. He was strangling his teddy bear. “The omens are horrible! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!”  
  
He jabbed a finger at me. “His friends are attacking in a warship. He has led them here. We must attack!”  
  
“No,” I said firmly. “You all raised me as praetor for a reason. I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren’t enemies. And besides, even if it were a trap, my sister would back me up, whatever it takes. Annabeth wouldn't go against the two of us. Your old praetor wouldn't harm you. That would just leave two possible hostiles, against all of us. Are those not good odds? I say we stand ready, but do not attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick, then I will fight with you, as I did last night. But it is not a trick.”

All eyes turned toward Reyna.  
  
She studied the approaching warship. Her expression hardened. If she vetoed my orders…well, I didn’t know what would happen. Chaos and confusion, at the very least.  
  
Most likely, the Romans would follow her lead. She’d been their leader much longer than me.  
  
“Hold your fire,” Reyna said. “But have the legion stand ready. Percy Jackson is your duly chosen praetor. We will trust this word - unless we are given clear reason not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet our... new friends.”  
  
The senators stampeded out of the auditorium - whether from excitement or panic, I wasn’t sure. Tyson ran after them, yelling, “Yay! Yay!” with Ella fluttering around his head.  
  
Octavian gave me a disgusted look, then threw down his teddy bear and followed the crowd.  
  
Reyna stood at my shoulder.  
  
“I support you, Percy,” she said. “I trust your judgment. But for all our sakes, I hope we can keep the peace between our campers and your Greek friends.”  
  
“We will,” I promised. “You’ll see.”  
  
She glanced up at the warship. Her expression turned a little wistful. “You say Jason is aboard... I hope that’s true. I’ve missed him.”  
  
She marched outside, leaving me alone with Hazel and Frank.  
  
“They’re coming down right in the forum,” Frank said nervously. “Terminus is going to have a heart attack.”  
  
“Percy,” Hazel said, “you swore on your life. Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you. You know that, right?”  
  
I smiled. I knew the stakes were high. I knew this day could go horribly wrong. But I also knew that my family was on that ship - both my girlfriend, and my twin. If things went right, this would be the best day of my life.  
  
I threw one arm around Hazel and one arm around Frank.  
  
“Come on,” I said. “Let me introduce you to my other family.”


	42. Chapter 42

**ANNABETH**

Until w met the exploding statue, I thought I was prepared for anything.  
  
I’d paced the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II, checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. I confirmed that the white “We come in peace” flag was flying from the mast. I reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew - and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan.  
  
Most important, I pulled aside our war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing we needed as we flew a magical Greek trireme into a potentially hostile Roman camp was a middle-aged satyr in gym clothes waving a club and yelling “Die!”  
  
Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill I’d been feeling since the ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.  
  
The warship descended through the clouds, but I couldn’t stop second-guessing myself. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked and attacked them on sight?  
  
The Argo II definitely did not look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete... well, it wasn’t the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.  
  
I had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. I’d asked Leo to send one of his special inventions - a holographic scroll - to alert our friends inside the camp. Hopefully the message had gotten through. Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull - _WASSUP_? with a smiley face - but I vetoed the idea. I wasn’t sure the Romans had a sense of humor.  
  
Too late to turn back now.  
  
The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. I gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail.  
  
My four crewmates took their places.  
  
On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would’ve been satisfied with a pilot’s wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.  
  
Piper paced back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, practicing her lines.  
  
“Lower your weapons,” she murmured. “We just want to talk.”  
  
Her charmspeak was so powerful, the words flowed over me, filling me with the desire to drop my dagger and have a nice long chat.  
  
For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried hard to play down her beauty. Today she was dressed in tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs. (Maybe as a joke, though I could never be sure with Piper.) Her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side with an eagle’s feather.

Chrissie stood by my side, fidgeting with her bracelet. "He's close," she muttered. I'd never really gotten used to their sixth twin sense, but today, it was reassuring - yet, at the same time, it was nerve-wrecking to be so close. Chrissie nervously tugged at her orange camp shirt, which had rode up to expose her stomach a little. She'd opted out of makeup today, but her long hair was braided with strands of silver, the way we'd learned at Circe's palace years ago.

I knew how nervous we were both feeling, but there was a decent chance Chrissie would act more dramatically. She'd always had that temper of hers, flaring up whenever her emotions ran high. I was sincerely hoping she wouldn't destroy the entire Bay Area with an earthquake or something.  
  
Then there was Chrissie's boyfriend - Jason. He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword. Otherwise he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he’d donned a toga and a purple cloak - symbols of his old rank as praetor. With his wind-ruffled blond hair and his icy blue eyes, he looked ruggedly handsome and in control - just like a son of Jupiter should. He’d grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky.  
  
I tried to hide it, but I still didn’t completely trust the guy. He acted too perfect - always following the rules, always doing the honorable thing. He even looked too perfect. In the back of my mind, I had a nagging thought: _What if this is a trick and he betrays us? What if we sail into Camp Jupiter, and he says, Hey, Romans! Check out these prisoners and this cool ship I brought you!_  
  
I doubted that would happen. Still, I couldn’t look at him without getting a bitter taste in my mouth. He’d been part of Hera’s forced “exchange program” to introduce the two camps. Her Most Annoying Majesty, Queen of Olympus, had convinced the other gods that their two sets of children - Roman and Greek - had to combine forces to save the world from the evil goddess Gaea, who was awakening from the earth, and her horrible children the giants.  
  
Without warning, Hera had plucked up Percy Jackson, my boyfriend and Chrissie's brother, wiped his memory, and sent him to the Roman camp. In exchange, the Greeks had gotten Jason. None of that was Jason’s fault; but every time I saw him, I remembered how much I missed Percy.  
  
Percy…who was somewhere below us right now.  
  
 _Oh, gods._ Panic welled up inside me. I forced it down. I couldn’t afford to get overwhelmed.  
  
 _I’m a child of Athena,_ I told myself. _I have to stick to my plan and not get distracted._  
  
I felt it again - that familiar shiver, as if a psychotic snowman had crept up behind me and was breathing down my neck. I turned, but no one was there.  
  
Must be my nerves. Even in a world of gods and monsters, I couldn’t believe a new warship would be haunted. The Argo II was well protected. The Celestial bronze shields along the rail were enchanted to ward off monsters, and our onboard satyr, Coach Hedge, would have sniffed out any intruders.  
  
I wished I could pray to my mother for guidance, but that wasn’t possible now. Not after last month, when I’d had that horrible encounter with my mom and gotten the worst present of my life...  
  
The cold pressed closer. I thought I heard a faint voice in the wind, laughing. Every muscle in my body tensed. Something was about to go terribly wrong.  
  
I almost ordered Leo to reverse course. Then, in the valley below, horns sounded. The Romans had spotted us.  
  
I thought I knew what to expect. Jason had described Camp Jupiter to us in great detail. Still, I had trouble believing my eyes. Ringed by the Oakland Hills, the valley was at least twice the size of Camp Half-Blood. A small river snaked around one side and curled toward the center like a capital letter G, emptying into a sparkling blue lake.

Directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. I recognized landmarks Jason had told her about - the hippodrome, the coliseum, the temples and parks, the neighborhood of Seven Hills with its winding streets, colorful villas, and flowering gardens.  
  
I saw evidence of the Romans’ recent battle with an army of monsters. The dome was cracked open on a building I guessed was the Senate House. The forum’s broad plaza was pitted with craters. Some fountains and statues were in ruins.  
  
Dozens of kids in togas were streaming out of the Senate House to get a better view of the Argo II. More Romans emerged from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended.  
  
About half a mile to the west, where the horns were blowing, a Roman fort stood on a hill. It looked just like the illustrations I had seen in military history books - with a defensive trench lined with spikes, high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae. Inside, perfect rows of white barracks lined the main road - the Via Principalis.  
  
A column of demigods emerged from the gates, their armor and spears glinting as they hurried toward the city. In the midst of their ranks was an actual war elephant.  
  
I wanted to land the Argo II before those troops arrived, but the ground was still several hundred feet below. I scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Percy.  
  
Then something behind her went _BOOM_!  
  
The explosion almost knocked me overboard. I whirled and found myself eye to eye with an angry statue.  
  
“Unacceptable!” he shrieked.  
  
Apparently he had exploded into existence, right there on the deck. Sulfurous yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. Cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga.  
  
“I will not have weapons inside the Pomerian Line!” he announced in a fussy teacher voice. “I certainly will not have Greeks!”  
  
Jason shot me a look that said, _I’ve got this._  
  
“Terminus,” he said. “It’s me. Jason Grace.”  
  
“Oh, I remember you, Jason!” Terminus grumbled. “I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!”  
  
“But they’re not enemies-”  
  
“That’s right,” Piper jumped in. “We just want to talk. If we could-”  
  
“Ha!” snapped the statue. “Don’t try that charmspeak on me, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!”  
  
Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she’d apparently forgotten she was holding. “Um... okay. But how would you slap it? You don’t have any arms.”  
  
“Impertinence!” There was a sharp _POP_ and a flash of yellow. Piper yelped and dropped the dagger, which was now smoking and sparking.  
  
“Lucky for you I’ve just been through a battle,” Terminus announced. “If I were at full strength, I would’ve blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!”  
  
“Hold up.” Leo stepped forward, wagging his Wii controller. “Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I know you didn’t do that.”  
  
The idea that Leo might attack the statue with his gaming device was enough to snap me out of my shock.  
  
“Let’s all calm down.” I raised my hands to show I had no weapons. “I take it you’re Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I’m Annabeth Chase, daughter of-”  
  
“Oh, I know who you are!” The statue glared at her with its blank white eyes. “A child of Athena, Minerva’s Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the proper place for that goddess.”  
  
I clenched my jaw. This statue wasn’t making it easy to be diplomatic. “What exactly do you mean, that goddess? And what’s so scandalous about-”  
  
“Right!” Jason interrupted. “Anyway, Terminus, we’re here on a mission of peace. We’d love permission to land so we can-”  
  
“Impossible!” the god squeaked. “Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave my city immediately!”  
  
“Which is it?” Leo asked. “Surrender, or leave?”  
  
“Both!” Terminus said. “Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?”  
  
“Wow.” Leo studied Terminus with professional interest. “You’re wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look.”  
  
He exchanged the Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue’s pedestal.

“Stop that!” Terminus insisted. Another small explosion made Leo drop his screwdriver. “Weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line.”  
  
“The what?” Piper asked.  
  
“City limits,” Jason translated.  
  
“And this entire ship is a weapon!” Terminus said. “You cannot land!”

Chrissie suddenly gripped my arm, squeezing it hard. I looked over the valley; the legion reinforcements were halfway to the city. The crowd in the forum was over a hundred strong now. I followed Chrissie's line of sight, scanning the faces and... oh, gods. I saw him. He was walking toward the ship with his arms around two other kids like they were best buddies - a stout boy with a black buzz cut, and a girl wearing a Roman cavalry helmet. Percy looked so at ease, so happy. He wore a purple cape just like Jason’s - the mark of a praetor.  
  
My heart did a gymnastics routine.  
  
“Leo, stop the ship,” I ordered.  
  
“What?”  
  
“You heard me. Keep us right where we are.”  
  
Leo pulled out his controller and yanked it upward. All ninety oars froze in place. The ship stopped sinking.  
  
“Terminus,” Chrissie breathed, “there’s no rule against hovering over New Rome, is there?”  
  
The statue frowned. “Well, no...”  
  
“We can keep the ship aloft,” I caught on. “We’ll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won’t be on Roman soil. Not technically.”  
  
The statue seemed to ponder this. Annabeth wondered if he was scratching his chin with imaginary hands.  
  
“I like technicalities,” he admitted. “Still…”  
  
“All our weapons will stay aboard the ship,” Annabeth promised. “I assume the Romans - even those reinforcements marching toward us - will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomerian Line if you tell them to?”  
  
“Of course!” Terminus said. “Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?”  
  
“Uh, Annabeth...” Leo said. “You sure this is a good idea?”  
  
I closed my fists to keep them from shaking. That cold feeling was still there. It floated just behind me, and now that Terminus was no longer shouting and causing explosions, I thought I could hear the presence laughing, as if it was delighted by the bad choices we were making.  
  
But Percy was down there... he was so close. We had to reach him.  
  
“It’ll be fine,” I said. “No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure each side obeys the rules.” I looked at the marble statue. “Do we have an agreement?”  
  
Terminus sniffed. “I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter of Athena. Please try not to destroy my town.”


	43. Chapter 43

**ANNABETH**

A sea of hastily assembled demigods parted for us as we walked through the forum. Some looked tense, some nervous. Some were bandaged from their recent battle with the giants, but no one was armed. No one attacked.  
  
Entire families had gathered to see the newcomers. I saw couples with babies, toddlers clinging to their parents’ legs, even some elderly folks in a combination of Roman robes and modern clothes. Were all of them demigods? I suspected so, though I’d never seen a place like this. At Camp Half-Blood, most demigods were teens. If they survived long enough to graduate from high school, they either stayed on as counselors or left to start lives as best they could in the mortal world. Here, it was an entire multigenerational community.  
  
At the far end of the crowd, I spotted Tyson the Cyclops and Percy’s hellhound, Mrs. O’Leary - who had been the first scouting party from Camp Half-Blood to reach Camp Jupiter. They looked to be in good spirits. Tyson came over to us. He was wearing an SPQR banner like a giant bib.

"Sister!" He hugged Chrissie, who grinned. "Hey, big bro."  
  
Some part of my mind registered how beautiful the city was - the smells from the bakeries, the gurgling fountains, the flowers blooming in the gardens. And the architecture... gods, the architecture - gilded marble columns, dazzling mosaics, monumental arches, and terraced villas.  
  
In front of me, the demigods made way for a girl in full Roman armor and a purple cape. Dark hair tumbled across her shoulders. Her eyes were as black as obsidian.  
  
Reyna.  
  
Jason had described her well. Even without that, I would have singled her out as the leader. Medals decorated her armor. She carried herself with such confidence the other demigods backed away and averted their gaze.  
  
I recognized something else in her face, too - in the hard set of her mouth and the deliberate way she raised her chin like she was ready to accept any challenge. Reyna was forcing a look of courage, while holding back a mixture of hopefulness and worry and fear that she couldn’t show in public.  
  
I knew that expression. I saw it every time I looked in a mirror.  
  
The two of us considered each other. My friends fanned out on either side. The Romans murmured Jason’s name, staring at him in awe.

Then someone else appeared from the crowd, and my vision tunneled.  
  
Percy smiled at us - that sarcastic, troublemaker smile that had annoyed me for years but eventually had become endearing. His sea-green eyes were as gorgeous as I remembered. His dark hair was swept to one side, like he’d just come from a walk on the beach. He looked even better than he had six months ago - tanner and taller, leaner and more muscular.  
  
I was too stunned to move. I felt that if I got any closer to him, all the molecules in my body might combust. I’d secretly had a crush on him since we were twelve years old. Last summer, sI’d fallen for him hard. WE’d been a happy couple for four months - and then he’d disappeared.

During our separation, something had happened to my feelings. They’d grown painfully intense - like I’d been forced to withdraw from a life-saving medication. Now I wasn’t sure which was more excruciating - living with that horrible absence, or being with him again.

Chrissie didn't have the same problem, apparently.

"Perseus _fucking_ Jackson!" She stomped forward, cracking the earth every time her feet touched it, causing small rumbles here and there.

A couple of Romans stepped forward to protect their leader, but Percy held up one hand to stop them. When Chrissie reached him, she threw her arms around him for a moment, but pulled back immediately and punched his arm.

"Do you have _any_ idea how worried I've been? Gods, you just about gave mom a heart attack, you little shit!"

"Who are you calling little? I'm older." When I heard his voice, I forgot how to breathe.

"Twelve minutes, Water Boy. Twelve minutes."

"Whatever, Oats." I'd nearly forgotten about that nickname. With Percy gone, nobody'd really used it anymore. Chrissie punched Percy again, though considerably less harshly this time, and she walked back to us.  
  
The praetor Reyna had watched all of this with an increasingly puzzled expression. Finally, though with apparent reluctance, she turned toward Jason.  
  
“Jason Grace, my former colleague...” She spoke the word colleague like it was a dangerous thing. “I welcome you home. And these, your friends-”  
  
I didn’t mean to, but I surged forward. Percy rushed toward me at the same time. The crowd tensed. Some reached for swords that weren’t there.  
  
Percy threw his arms around me. We kissed, and for a moment nothing else mattered. An asteroid could have hit the planet and wiped out all life, and I wouldn’t have cared.  
  
Percy smelled of ocean air. His lips were salty.  
  
 _Seaweed Brain,_ I thought giddily.  
  
Percy pulled away and studied my face. “Gods, I never thought-”  
  
I grabbed his wrist and flipped him over my shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement. Romans cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted, “Hold! Stand down!”  
  
I put my knee on Percy’s chest. I pushed my forearm against his throat. I didn’t care what the Romans thought. A white-hot lump of anger expanded in my chest - a tumor of worry and bitterness that I’d been carrying around since last autumn.  
  
“If you ever leave me again,” I said, my eyes stinging, “I swear to all the gods-”  
  
Percy had the nerve to laugh. Suddenly the lump of heated emotions melted inside me.  
  
“Consider me warned,” Percy said. “I missed you, too.”  
  
I rose and helped him to his feet. I wanted to kiss him again so badly, but I managed to restrain herself.  
  
Jason cleared his throat. “So, yeah... It’s good to be back.”  
  
He introduced Reyna to Piper, who looked a little miffed that she hadn’t gotten to say the lines she’d been practicing, then to Leo, who grinned and flashed a peace sign.

"This is Chrissie, Percy's twin sister, who _didn't have to crack the ground_." The last part was obviously aimed at the girl in question, who only now seemed to realize that she'd even done that.

"Uhh, oops?" She grimaced, and turned towards Reyna. "Sorry about that."  
  
“And this is Annabeth,” Jason said, breaking the tension. “Uh, normally she doesn’t judo-flip people.”  
  
Reyna’s eyes sparkled. “You sure you’re not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?”  
  
I didn’t know if that was a compliment, but I held out my hand. “I only attack my boyfriend like that,” I promised. “Pleased to meet you.”  
  
Reyna clasped my hand firmly. “It seems we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!”  
  
A few of the Roman campers hustled forward - apparently the senior officers. Two kids appeared at Percy’s side, the same ones I had seen him chumming around with earlier. The burly Asian guy with the buzz cut was about fifteen. He was cute in a sort of oversized-cuddly-panda-bear way. The girl was younger, maybe thirteen, with amber eyes and chocolate skin and long curly hair. Her cavalry helmet was tucked under her arm.  
  
I could tell from their body language that they felt close to Percy. They stood next to him protectively, like they’d already shared many adventures. I fought down a twinge of jealousy. Was it possible Percy and this girl... no. The chemistry between the three of them wasn’t like that. I had spent my whole life learning to read people. It was a survival skill. If I had to guess, I’d say the big Asian guy was the girl’s boyfriend, though I suspected they hadn’t been together long.  
  
There was one thing I didn’t understand: what was the girl staring at? She kept frowning in Piper and Leo’s direction, like she recognized one of them and the memory was painful.  
  
Meanwhile, Reyna was giving orders to her officers. “...tell the legion to stand down. Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. And, Octavian-”  
  
“You’re letting these intruders into the camp?” A tall guy with stringy blond hair elbowed his way forward. “Reyna, the security risks-”  
  
“We’re not taking them to the camp, Octavian.” Reyna flashed him a stern look. “We’ll eat here, in the forum.”  
  
“Oh, much better,” Octavian grumbled. He seemed to be the only one who didn’t defer to Reyna as his superior, despite the fact that he was scrawny and pale and for some reason had three teddy bears hanging from his belt. “You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship.”  
  
“These are our guests.” Reyna clipped off every word. “We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely.”  
  
“Good idea,” Percy put in. “Go burn your bears, Octavian.”  
  
Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. “You have my orders. Go.”  
  
The officers dispersed. Octavian shot Percy a look of absolute loathing. Then he gave me a suspicious once-over and stalked away.  
  
Percy slipped his hand into mine. “Don’t worry about Octavian,” he said. “Most of the Romans are good people - like Frank and Hazel here, and Reyna. We’ll be fine.”  
  
I felt as if someone had draped a cold washcloth across my neck. I heard that whispering laughter again, as if the presence had followed me from the ship.  
  
I looked up at the Argo II. Its massive bronze hull glittered in the sunlight. Part of me wanted to kidnap Percy right now, climb on board, and get out of here while they still could.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. And there was no way I would ever risk losing Percy again.  
  
“We’ll be fine,” I repeated, trying to believe it.  
  
“Excellent,” Reyna said. She turned to Jason, and I thought there was a hungry sort of gleam in her eyes. “Let’s talk, and we can have a proper reunion.”


	44. Chapter 44

**ANNABETH**

I wished I had an appetite, because the Romans knew how to eat.  
  
Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits - aurae - swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies. Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts - Lares - in togas and legionnaire armor. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs ( _no, fauns_ , I thought) trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. In the nearby fields, the war elephant frolicked with Mrs. O’Leary, and children played tag around the statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.  
  
The whole scene was so familiar yet so completely alien that it gave me vertigo.  
  
All I wanted to do was be with Percy - preferably alone. I knew I would have to wait. If our quest was going to succeed, we needed these Romans, which meant getting to know them and building some goodwill.  
  
Reyna and a few of her officers (including the blond kid Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods) sat with me and the crew. Percy joined us with his two new friends, Frank and Hazel.  
  
As a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, Percy leaned over and whispered, “I want to show you around New Rome. Just you and me. The place is incredible.”  
  
I should’ve felt thrilled. _Just you and me_ was exactly what I wanted. Instead, resentment swelled in my throat. How could Percy talk so enthusiastically about this place? What about Camp Half-Blood - our camp, our home?  
  
I tried not to stare at the new marks on Percy’s forearm - an SPQR tattoo like Jason’s. At Camp Half-Blood, demigods got bead necklaces to commemorate years of training. Here, the Romans burned a tattoo into your flesh, as if to say: _You belong to us. Permanently._  
  
I swallowed back some biting comments. “Okay. Sure.”  
  
“I’ve been thinking,” he said nervously. “I had this idea-”  
  
He stopped as Reyna called a toast to friendship.  
  
After introductions all around, the Romans and our crew began exchanging stories. Jason explained how he’d arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he’d gone on a quest with Chrissie, Piper and Leo to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno, take your pick - she was equally annoying in Greek or Roman) from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.  
  
“Impossible!” Octavian broke in. “That’s our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there- ”  
  
“They would’ve destroyed her,” Chrissie said. “And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. There wouldn't be enough demigods left to stop the giants, let alone Gaea herself."

Octavian went to open his mouth, but Piper beat him. "Be quiet and let Jason finish.”  
  
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. I really loved Piper’s charmspeak. I noticed Reyna looking back and forth between Jason and Chrissie, her brow creased, as if just beginning to realize the two of them were a couple.  
  
“So,” Jason continued, “that’s how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She’s still half asleep, but she’s the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he said he was retreating to the ancient lands - Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by... what did he call it? Pulling up their roots.”  
  
Percy nodded thoughtfully. “Gaea’s been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face.”  
  
Percy recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for two name - Annabeth and Chrissie.  
  
When I heard that, I had to try hard not to cry. Percy told us how he’d traveled to Alaska with Frank and Hazel - how they’d defeated the giant Alcyoneus, freed the death god Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants’ army.  
  
When Percy had finished, Jason whistled appreciatively. “No wonder they made you praetor.”  
  
Octavian snorted. “Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!”

“On the bright side,” Percy said, “both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up.”  
  
Octavian turned as purple as a Roman T-shirt. Jason gave Percy a fist bump.  
  
Even Reyna managed a smile, though her eyes were stormy.  
  
“We’ll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later,” she said. “Right now we have more serious issues to deal with.”  
  
“I’ll step aside for Jason,” Percy said easily. “It’s no biggie.”  
  
“No biggie?” Octavian choked. “The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?”  
  
Percy ignored him and turned to Jason. “You’re Thalia Grace’s brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike.”  
  
“Yeah, I noticed,” Jason said. “Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job.”  
  
“Back at you,” Percy said.

Chrissie kicked his shin. "Dude, not the time for a bromance. We got serious things to discuss."

I looked her in the eye. “We should talk about the Great Prophecy. It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?”  
  
Reyna nodded. “We call it the Prophecy of Eight. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?”  
  
“Of course,” he said. “But, Reyna-”  
  
“Recite it, please. In English, not Latin.”  
  
Octavian sighed. “Eight half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall-”  
  
“An oath to keep with a final breath,” I continued. “And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.”  
  
Everyone stared at me - except for Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits. Chrissie grabbed his face and turned it back to our group.  
  
I wasn’t sure why I'd blurted out the lines of the prophecy. I’d just felt compelled.  
  
The big kid, Frank, sat forward, staring at me in fascination, as if I’d grown a third eye. “Is it true you’re a child of Min- I mean, Athena?”  
  
“Yes,” I said, suddenly feeling defensive. “Why is that such a surprise?”  
  
Octavian scoffed. “If you’re truly a child of the wisdom goddess-”  
  
“Enough,” Reyna snapped. “Annabeth is what she says. She’s here in peace. Besides...” She gave me a look of grudging respect. “Percy has spoken highly of you.”  
  
The undertones in Reyna’s voice took me a moment to decipher. Percy looked down, suddenly interested in his cheeseburger.  
  
My face felt hot. Oh, gods... Reyna had tried to make a move on Percy. That explained the tinge of bitterness, maybe even envy, in her words. Percy had turned her down for me.  
  
At that moment, I forgave my ridiculous boyfriend for everything he’d ever done wrong. I wanted to throw my arms around him, but I commanded myself to stay cool.  
  
“Uh, thanks,” she told Reyna. “At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death... that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors.”  
  
Hazel, the girl with the cavalry helmet and the long curly hair, picked up something next to her plate. It looked like a large ruby; but before I could be sure, Hazel slipped it into the pocket of her denim shirt.  
  
“My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors,” she said.  
  
“Wait,” Chrissie said. “Nico di Angelo? He’s your brother?”  
  
Hazel nodded as if this were obvious. A dozen more questions crowded into my head, but it was already spinning like Leo’s pinwheel. I caught Chrissie's eye and we came to a mutual understanding: _later_. “Okay. You were saying?”  
  
“He disappeared.” Hazel moistened her lips. “I’m afraid... I’m not sure, but I think something’s happened to him.”  
  
“We’ll look for him,” Percy promised. “We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we’d find both answers in Rome - like, the original Rome. That’s on the way to Greece, right?”  
  
“Thanatos told you this?” I tried to wrap my mind around that idea. “The death god?”  
  
I’d met many gods. We’d even been to the Underworld; but Percy’s story about freeing the incarnation of death itself really creeped me out.  
  
Percy took a bite of his burger. “Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they’ll just keep coming back.”  
  
Piper twisted the feather in her hair. “Like water leaking through a dam,” she suggested.  
  
“Yeah.” Chrissie smiled. “We’ve got a dam hole.”  
  
“What?” Piper asked.  
  
“Nothing,” Percy said. “Inside joke. The point is we’ll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It’s the only way we’ll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay defeated.”  
  
Reyna plucked an apple from a passing fruit tray. She turned it in her fingers, studying the dark red surface. “You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands - and the Mare Nostrum - are dangerous?”  
  
“Mary who?” Leo asked.  
  
“Mare Nostrum,” Jason explained. “Our Sea. It’s what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean.”  
  
Reyna nodded. “The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It’s also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants... and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse.”  
  
“You said Alaska would be bad,” Percy reminded her. “We survived that.”  
  
Reyna shook her head. Her fingernails cut little crescents into the apple as she turned it. “Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It’s been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there.”  
  
“Then we’re good!” Leo grinned over the top of his pinwheel. “Because we’re all crazy, right? Besides, the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She’ll get us through.”  
  
“We’ll have to hurry,” Chrissie added. “I don’t know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She’s invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully.”

I shuddered. I’d had my own share of nightmares lately.  
  
“Eight half-bloods must answer the call,” Jason said. “It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Me, Chrissie, Piper, Leo, and Annabeth. That’s five.”  
  
“And me,” Percy said. “Along with Hazel and Frank. That’s seven.”  
  
“What?” Octavian shot to his feet. “We’re just supposed to accept that? Without a vote in the senate? Without a proper debate? Without-”  
  
“Percy!” Tyson the Cyclops bounded toward us with Mrs. O’Leary at his heels. On the hellhound’s back sat the skinniest harpy I had ever seen - a sickly-looking girl with stringy red hair, a sackcloth dress, and red-feathered wings.  
  
He stopped by our couch and wrung his meaty hands. His big brown eye was full of concern. “Ella is scared,” he said.  
  
“N-n-no more boats,” the harpy muttered to herself, picking furiously at her feathers. “Titanic, Lusitania, Pax... boats are not for harpies.”  
  
Leo squinted. He looked at Hazel, who was seated next to him. “Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?”  
  
“She’s not a chicken.” Hazel averted her eyes, as if Leo made her nervous. “Ella’s a harpy. She’s just a little... high-strung.”  
  
“Ella is pretty,” Tyson said. “And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship.”  
  
“No ships,” Ella repeated. She looked straight at me. “Bad luck. There she is. _Wisdom’s daughter walks alone_ -”  
  
“Ella!” Frank stood suddenly. “Maybe it’s not the best time—”  
  
“ _The Mark of Athena burns through Rome_ ,” Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. “ _Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants’ bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail. Curse brings down the last of three, Fire heals and peace breaks free_.”  
  
The effect was like someone dropping a flash grenade on the table. Everyone stared at the harpy. No one spoke. My heart was pounding. The Mark of Athena... I resisted the urge to check her pocket, but I could feel the silver coin growing warmer - the cursed gift from my mother. _Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me._  
  
Around us, the sounds of the feast continued, but muted and distant, as if their little cluster of couches had slipped into a quieter dimension.  
  
Percy was the first to recover. He stood and took Tyson’s arm.  
  
“I know!” he said with feigned enthusiasm. “How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O’Leary-”  
  
“Hold on.” Octavian gripped one of his teddy bears, strangling it with shaking hands. His eyes fixed on Ella. “What was that she said? It sounded like-”  
  
“Ella reads a lot,” Frank blurted out. “We found her at a library.”  
  
“Yes!” Hazel said. “Probably just something she read in a book.”  
  
“Books,” Ella muttered helpfully. “Ella likes books.”  
  
Now that she’d said her piece, the harpy seemed more relaxed. She sat cross-legged on Mrs. O’Leary’s back, preening her wings.  
  
I gave Percy a curious glance. Obviously, he and Frank and Hazel were hiding something. Just as obviously, Ella had recited a prophecy - a prophecy that concerned me.  
  
Percy’s expression said, _Help_.  
  
“That was a prophecy,” Octavian insisted. “It sounded like a prophecy.”  
  
No one answered.  
  
I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but I looked at Chrissie, and we both understood that Percy was on the verge of big trouble.  
  
I forced a laugh. “Really, Octavian? Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches."

"Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?” Chrissie added.  
  
Our words had the intended effect. The Roman officers laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, then looked at Octavian and snorted. The idea of a chicken lady issuing prophecies was apparently just as ridiculous to Romans as it was to Greeks.  
  
“I, uh...” Octavian dropped his teddy bear. “No, but-”  
  
“She’s just spouting lines from some book,” I said, “like Hazel suggested."

"Besides, we already have a real prophecy to worry about." Chrissie looked at Percy pointedly. He turned to Tyson. “So, why don’t you take Ella and Mrs. O’Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while. Is Ella okay with that?”  
  
“‘Large dogs are good,’” Ella said. “Old Yeller, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg.”  
  
I wasn’t sure how to take that answer, but Percy smiled like the problem was solved.  
  
“Great!” Percy said. “We’ll Iris-message you guys when we’re done and catch up with you later.”  
  
The Romans looked at Reyna, waiting for her ruling. I held my breath.  
  
Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied Ella, but I couldn’t guess what she was thinking.

“Fine,” the praetor said at last. “Go.”  
  
“Yay!” Tyson went around the couches and gave everyone a big hug - even Octavian, who didn’t look happy about it. Then he climbed on Mrs. O’Leary’s back with Ella, and the hellhound bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.  
  
“Well.” Reyna set down her uneaten apple. “Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate’s approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest - especially one as dangerous as you’re suggesting.”  
  
“This whole thing smells of treachery,” Octavian grumbled. “That trireme is not a ship of peace!”  
  
“Come aboard, man,” Leo offered. “I’ll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you’re really good I’ll give you a little paper captain’s hat to wear.”  
  
Octavian’s nostrils flared. “How dare you-”  
  
“It’s a good idea,” Reyna said. “Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We’ll convene a senate meeting in one hour.”  
  
“But...” Octavian stopped. Apparently he could tell from Reyna’s expression that further arguing would not be good for his health. “Fine.”  
  
Leo got up. He turned to me, and his smile changed. It happened so quickly, I thought I’d imagined it; but just for a moment someone else seemed to be standing in Leo’s place, smiling coldly with a cruel light in his eyes. Then I blinked, and Leo was just regular old Leo again, with his usual impish grin.  
  
“Back soon,” he promised. “This is gonna be epic.”  
  
A horrible chill settled over me. As Leo and Octavian headed for the rope ladder, I thought about calling them back - but how could I explain that? Tell everyone I was going crazy, seeing things and feeling cold?

"Wait, I'll join you," Chrissie said. She started to get up, but Reyna held up her hand to stop her.

"No, I'd like to speak with you, please." It wasn't a question. Chrissie nodded.  
  
The wind spirits began clearing the plates.  
  
“Uh, Reyna,” Jason said, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to show Piper around before the senate meeting. She’s never seen New Rome.”  
  
Reyna’s expression hardened.  
  
I wondered how Jason could be so dense. Was it possible he really didn’t understand how much Reyna liked him? It was obvious enough to me. There was obviously history between him and her, though of course he was with Chrissie now, but asking to show either of the girls he so obviously is close to around in Reyna's city was rubbing salt in a wound.  
  
“Of course,” Reyna said coldly.  
  
Percy took my hand. “Yeah, me, too. I’d like to show Annabeth-”  
  
“No,” Reyna snapped.  
  
Percy knit his eyebrows. “Sorry?”  
  
“I’d like for Annabeth to join me and Chrissie,” Reyna said. “Alone. If you don’t mind, my fellow praetor.”  
  
Her tone made it clear she wasn’t really asking permission.  
  
The chill spread down my back. I wondered what Reyna was up to. Maybe the praetor didn’t like the idea of two guys who had rejected her giving their girlfriends tours of her city. Or maybe there was something she wanted to say in private. Either way, I was reluctant to be alone and unarmed with the Roman leader.  
  
“Come.” Reyna rose from her couch. “Walk with me.”


	45. Chapter 45

CHRISSIE

Annabeth obviously wanted to hate New Rome. But as an aspiring architect, she probably couldn’t help the admiring face as she looked at the terraced gardens, the fountains and temples, the winding cobblestone streets and gleaming white villas.

“We have the best architects and builders in the world,” Reyna said, as if reading her thoughts. “Rome always did, in the ancient times. Many demigods stay on to live here after their time in the legion. They go to our university. They settle down to raise families. Percy seemed interested in this fact.”

Annabeth scowled harshly. I grinned, and Reyna laughed.

“You’re a warrior, all right,” the praetor said. “You’ve got fire in your eyes.”

“Sorry.” Annabeth tried to tone down the glare.

“Don’t be. I’m the daughter of Bellona.”

“Roman goddess of war?”

Reyna nodded. She turned and whistled like she was hailing a cab. A moment later, two metal dogs raced toward them - automaton greyhounds, one silver and one gold. They brushed against Reyna’s legs and regarded us with glistening ruby eyes.

“My pets,” Reyna explained. “Aurum and Argentum. You don’t mind if they walk with us?”

I got the feeling it wasn’t really a request. I noted that the greyhounds had teeth like steel arrowheads. Maybe weapons weren’t allowed inside the city, but Reyna’s pets could still tear us to pieces if they chose.

Reyna led her to an outdoor café, where the waiter clearly knew her. He smiled and handed her a to-go cup, then offered one to Annabeth.

“Would you like some?” Reyna asked. “They make wonderful hot chocolate. Not really a Roman drink-”

“But chocolate is universal,” Annabeth said.

“Exactly.”

It was a warm June afternoon, but Annabeth accepted the cup with thanks. I got one too, and the three of us walked on, Reyna’s gold and silver dogs roaming nearby.

“In our camp,” Reyna said, “Athena is Minerva. Are you familiar with how her Roman form is different?”

I hadn’t really considered it before. I remembered the way Terminus had called Athena _that goddess_ , as if she were scandalous. Octavian had acted like Annabeth’s very existence was an insult.[](https://novels77.com/the-mark-of-athena/page-5-147468.html)

“I take it Minerva isn’t... uh, quite as respected here?”  
  
Reyna blew steam from her cup. “We respect Minerva. She’s the goddess of crafts and wisdom... but she isn’t really a goddess of war. Not for Romans. She’s also a maiden goddess, like Diana... the one you call Artemis. You won’t find any children of Minerva here. The idea that Minerva would have children - frankly, it’s a little shocking to us.”  
  
“Oh.” Annabeth's face flushed. She didn't like getting into the details of Athena’s children - how they were born straight from the mind of the goddess, just as Athena herself had sprung from the head of Zeus. I remember when I asked if she had a belly button - she does, for the record, but she doesn't know how, nor does she really want to.  
  
“I understand that you Greeks don’t see things the same way,” Reyna continued. “But Romans take vows of maidenhood very seriously. The Vestal Virgins, for instance... if they broke their vows and fell in love with anyone, they would be buried alive. So the idea that a maiden goddess would have children-”  
  
“Got it.” Annabeth looked down. “I’m not supposed to exist. And even if your camp had children of Minerva-”  
  
“They wouldn’t be like you,” Reyna said. “They might be craftsmen, artists, maybe advisers, but not warriors. Not leaders of dangerous quests.”  
  
Annabeth started to object that she wasn’t the leader of the quest. Not officially. But, although we always made big decisions together, we'd all been looking at her for orders - even Hedge.  
  
“There’s more.” Reyna snapped her fingers, and her golden dog, Aurum, trotted over. The praetor stroked his ears. “The harpy Ella... it was a prophecy she spoke. We both know that, don’t we?”  
  
Annabeth swallowed. I'd heard that dogs could smell fear, even detect changes in a human’s breathing and heartbeat. I didn’t know if that applied to magical metal dogs, but it was probably better to tell the truth.  
  
“It sounded like a prophecy,” she admitted. “But I’ve never met Ella before today, and I’ve never heard those lines exactly.”  
  
“I have,” Reyna murmured. “At least some of them-”  
  
A few yards away, the silver dog barked. A group of children spilled out of a nearby alleyway and gathered around Argentum, petting the dog and laughing, unfazed by its razor-sharp teeth.  
  
“We should move on,” Reyna said.  
  
We wound their way up the hill. The greyhounds followed, leaving the children behind. I kept glancing at Reyna’s face. A vague memory started tugging at me - the way Reyna brushed her hair behind her ear, the silver ring she wore with the torch and sword design.  
  
“We’ve met before,” I finally spoke up. “You were younger, I think.”  
  
Reyna gave her a dry smile. “Very good. Percy didn’t remember me. Of course you spoke mostly with my older sister Hylla, who is now queen of the Amazons. She left just this morning, before you arrived. At any rate, when we last met, I was a mere handmaiden in the house of Circe.”  
  
“Circe...” I remembered when we were at the sorceress' island. We'd been thirteen, and the three of us had washed ashore from the Sea of Monsters. Hylla had welcomed us. She'd helped Annabeth and me get cleaned up and given her a beautiful new dress and a complete makeover. Then Circe had made her sales pitch: if we stayed on the island, we could have magical training and incredible power. We'd been tempted, maybe just a little, until we realized the place was a trap, and Percy had been turned into a rodent. (That last part was hilarious afterward; but at the time, it had been terrifying.) As for Reyna... she’d been one of the servants who had combed Annabeth’s hair.  
  
“You...” Annabeth said in amazement. “And Hylla is queen of the Amazons? How did you two-?”  
  
“Long story,” Reyna said. “But I remember you well. You were brave. I’d never seen anyone refuse Circe’s hospitality, much less outwit her." Her voice turned wistful as her gaze fell on Annabeth. "It’s no wonder Percy cares for you.”  
  
We reached the top of the hill, where a terrace overlooked the entire valley.  
  
“This is my favorite spot,” Reyna said. “The Garden of Bacchus.”  
  
Grapevine trellises made a canopy overhead. Bees buzzed through honeysuckle and jasmine, which filled the afternoon air with a dizzying mix of perfumes. In the middle of the terrace stood a statue of Bacchus in a sort of ballet position, wearing nothing but a loincloth, his cheeks puffed out and lips pursed, spouting water into a fountain.  
  
Despite my worries, I almost laughed. We knew the god in his Greek form, Dionysus - or Mr. D, as we all called him back at Camp Half-Blood. Seeing our cranky old camp director immortalized in stone, wearing a diaper and spewing water from his mouth, made me feel a little better.

Reyna stopped at the edge of the terrace. The view was worth the climb. The whole city spread out below them like a 3-D mosaic. To the south, beyond the lake, a cluster of temples perched on a hill. To the north, an aqueduct marched toward the Berkeley Hills. Work crews were repairing a broken section, probably damaged in the recent battle.

  
“I wanted to hear it from you two,” Reyna said.

Annabeth turned. “Hear what from us?”

“The truth,” Reyna said. “Convince me that I’m not making a mistake by trusting you. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about Camp Half-Blood. Your friend Piper has sorcery in her words. I spent enough time with Circe to know charmspeak when I hear it. I can’t trust what she says. And Jason... well, he has changed. He seems distant, no longer quite Roman.”

The hurt in her voice was as sharp as broken glass. I looked down; Jason had never known about Reyna's obvious feelings for him, and I wasn't prepared for this. I'd been planning on negotiating, maybe even fighting if needed. I didn't think I'f be feeling guilt and pity.

Annabeth started telling Reyna about her life. She talked about her dad and stepmom and her two stepbrothers in San Francisco, and how she had felt like an outsider in her own family. She talked about how she had run away when she was only seven, finding her friends Luke and Thalia and making her way to Camp Half-Blood on Long Island. She described the camp and her years growing up there. She talked about meeting me and Percy and the adventures we’d had together. I took over when we got to Percy disappearing, telling the praetor about searching for him, having to tell my mom, and finally finding Jason, Piper and Leo at the Grand Canyon.

  
Reyna was a good listener.

When I was done talking, Reyna gazed over New Rome. Her metal greyhounds sniffed around the garden, snapping at bees in the honeysuckle. Finally Reyna pointed to the cluster of temples on the distant hill.

“The small red building,” she said, “there on the northern side? That’s the temple of my mother, Bellona.” Reyna turned toward Annabeth. “Unlike your mother, Bellona has no Greek equivalent. She is fully, truly Roman. She’s the goddess of protecting the homeland.”

Annabeth said nothing. I knew very little about the Roman goddess.

Down below, the hull of the Argo II gleamed as it floated over the forum, like some massive bronze party balloon.

“When the Romans go to war,” Reyna continued, “we first visit the Temple of Bellona. Inside is a symbolic patch of ground that represents enemy soil. We throw a spear into that ground, indicating that we are now at war. You see, Romans have always believed that offense is the best defense. In ancient times, whenever our ancestors felt threatened by their neighbors, they would invade to protect themselves.”

“They conquered everyone around them,” Annabeth said. “Carthage, the Gauls-”

“And the Greeks.” Reyna let that comment hang. “My point, Annabeth, is that it isn’t Rome’s nature to cooperate with other powers. Every time Greek and Roman demigods have met, we’ve fought. Conflicts between our two sides have started some of the most horrible wars in human history - especially civil wars.”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Annabeth said. “We’ve got to work together, or Gaea will destroy us both.”

“I agree,” Reyna said. “But is cooperation possible? What if Juno’s plan is flawed? Even goddesses can make mistakes.”

I waited for Reyna to get struck by lightning or turned into a peacock. Nothing happened.

Unfortunately, I shared Reyna’s doubts. Hera did make mistakes. I’d never forgive Hera for taking Percy away, even if it was for a noble cause.

“I don’t trust the goddess,” Annabeth admitted. “But I do trust my friends. This isn’t a trick, Reyna. We can work together.”

Reyna finished her cup of chocolate. She set the cup on the terrace railing and gazed over the valley as if imagining battle lines.

“I believe you mean it,” she said. “But if you go to the ancient lands, especially Rome itself, there is something you should know about your mother.”

Annabeth’s shoulders tensed. “My- my mother?”

“When I lived on Circe’s island,” Reyna said, “we had many visitors. Once, perhaps a year before you and Percy arrived, a young man washed ashore. He was half mad from thirst and heat. He’d been drifting at sea for days. His words didn’t make much sense, but he said he was a son of Athena.”

Reyna paused as if waiting for a reaction.

“What happened to this demigod?” Annabeth asked.

Reyna waved her hand as if the question was trivial. “Circe turned him into a guinea pig, of course. He made quite a crazy little rodent. But before that, he kept raving about his failed quest. He claimed that he’d gone to Rome, following the Mark of Athena.”

Annabeth grabbed the railing to keep her balance.

“Yes,” Reyna said, seeing her discomfort. “He kept muttering about wisdom’s child, the Mark of Athena, and the giants’ bane standing pale and gold. The same lines Ella was just reciting. But you say that you’ve never heard them before today?”

“Not- not the way Ella said them.” Annabeth’s voice was weak. “Did this demigod - did he explain his quest?”

Reyna shook her head. “At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about. Much later, when I became praetor of Camp Jupiter, I began to suspect.”

“Suspect... what?”

“There is an old legend that the praetors of Camp Jupiter have passed down through the centuries. If it’s true, it may explain why our two groups of demigods have never been able to work together. It may be the cause of our animosity. Until this old score is finally settled, so the legend goes, Romans and Greeks will never be at peace. And the legend centers on Athena-”

A shrill sound pierced the air. Light flashed in the corner of my eye.

I turned in time to see an explosion blast a new crater in the forum. A burning couch tumbled through the air. Demigods scattered in panic.

“Giants?” Annabeth reached for her dagger, which of course wasn’t there. “I thought their army was defeated!”

“It isn’t the giants.” Reyna’s eyes seethed with rage. “You’ve betrayed our trust.”

“What? No!”

As soon as I said it, the Argo II launched a second volley. Its port ballista fired a massive spear wreathed in Greek fire, which sailed straight through the broken dome of the Senate House and exploded inside, lighting up the building like a jack-o’-lantern. If anyone had been in there...

“Gods, no.” A wave of nausea almost made my knees buckle. “Reyna, it isn’t possible. We’d never do this!”

The metal dogs ran to their mistress’s side. They snarled at us but paced uncertainly, as if reluctant to attack.

“You’re telling the truth,” Reyna judged. “Perhaps you were not aware of this treachery, but someone must pay.”

Down in the forum, chaos was spreading. Crowds were pushing and shoving. Fistfights were breaking out.

“Bloodshed,” Reyna said.

“We have to stop it!”

I had a horrible feeling this might be the last time we and Reyna ever acted in agreement, but together we ran down the hill.

If weapons had been allowed in the city, our friends would have already been dead. The Roman demigods in the forum had coalesced into an angry mob. Some threw plates, food, and rocks at the Argo II, which was pointless, as most of the stuff fell back into the crowd.

Several dozen Romans had surrounded Piper and Jason, who were trying to calm them without much luck. Piper’s charmspeak was useless against so many screaming, angry demigods. Jason’s forehead was bleeding. His purple cloak had been ripped to shreds. He kept pleading, “I’m on your side!” but his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt didn’t help matters - nor did the warship overhead, firing flaming spears into New Rome. One landed nearby and blasted a toga shop to rubble.

My heart dropped.

“Pluto’s pauldrons,” Reyna cursed. “Look.”

Armed legionnaires were hurrying toward the forum. Two artillery crews had set up catapults just outside the Pomerian Line and were preparing to fire at the Argo II.

“That’ll just make things worse,” Annabeth said.

“I hate my job,” Reyna growled. She rushed off toward the legionnaires, her dogs at her side.


	46. Chapter 46

**ANNABETH**

_Percy_ , I thought, scanning the forum desperately. _Where are you?_  
  
A few Romans tried to grab me and Chrissie, but we ducked past them, plunging into the crowd. As if the angry Romans, burning couches, and exploding buildings weren’t confusing enough, hundreds of purple ghosts drifted through the forum, passing straight through the demigods’ bodies and wailing incoherently. The fauns had also taken advantage of the chaos. They swarmed the dining tables, grabbing food, plates, and cups. One trotted by us with his arms full of tacos and an entire pineapple between his teeth.  
  
A statue of Terminus exploded into being, right in front of me. He yelled at me in Latin, no doubt calling me a liar and a rule breaker; but I pushed the statue over and kept running.  
  
It was Chrissie who finally spotted Percy. He and his friends, Hazel and Frank, were standing in the middle of a fountain as Percy repelled the angry Romans with blasts of water. Percy’s toga was in tatters, but he looked unhurt.  
  
I called to him as another explosion rocked the forum. This time the flash of light was directly overhead. One of the Roman catapults had fired, and the Argo II groaned and tilted sideways, flames bubbling over its bronze-plated hull.  
  
I noticed a figure clinging desperately to the rope ladder, trying to climb down. It was Octavian, his robes steaming and his face black with soot.  
  
Over by the fountain, Percy blasted the Roman mob with more water. We ran toward him, ducking a Roman fist and a flying plate of sandwiches.  
  
“Guys!” Percy called. “What-?”  
  
“I don’t know!” Chrissie yelled.  
  
“I’ll tell you what!” cried a voice from above. Octavian had reached the bottom of the ladder. “The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!”  
  
My chest filled with liquid hydrogen. I felt like I might shatter into a million frozen pieces.

“You’re lying,” Chrissie said. “Leo, he- he would never-”  
  
“I was just there!” Octavian shrieked. “I saw it with my own eyes!”  
  
The Argo II returned fire. Legionnaires in the field scattered as one of their catapults was blasted to splinters.  
  
“You see?” Octavian screamed. “Romans, kill the invaders!”  
  
I growled in frustration. There was no time for anyone to figure out the truth. My crew from Camp Half-Blood was outnumbered a hundred to one, and even if Octavian had managed to stage some sort of trick (which I thought likely), we’d never be able to convince the Romans before we were overrun and killed.  
  
“We have to leave,” I told Percy. “Now.”  
  
He nodded grimly. “Hazel, Frank, you’ve got to make a choice. Are you coming?”  
  
Hazel looked terrified, but she donned her cavalry helmet. “Of course we are. But you’ll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time.”  
  
“How?” I asked.  
  
Hazel whistled. Instantly a blur of beige shot across the forum. A majestic horse materialized next to the fountain. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob. Hazel climbed on his back like she’d been born to ride. Strapped to the horse’s saddle was a Roman cavalry sword.  
  
Hazel unsheathed her golden blade. “Send me an Iris-message when you’re safely away, and we’ll rendezvous,” she said. “Arion, ride!”  
  
The horse zipped through the crowd with incredible speed, pushing back Romans and causing mass panic.  
  
I felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe we could make it out of here alive. Then, from halfway across the forum, I heard Jason shouting.  
  
“Romans!” he cried. “Please!”  
  
He and Piper were being pelted with plates and stones. Jason tried to shield Piper, but a brick caught him above the eye. He crumpled, and the crowd surged forward.

"Jason!" Chrissie's voice shattered into a million pieces as she called out his name. The ground started shaking, throwing Romans off-balance. She started pushing her way through the crowd, but I grabbed her arm. Piper's charmspeak rolled over the mob, making them hesitate, but I knew the effect wouldn’t last. We couldn’t possibly reach them in time to help.  
  
“Frank,” Percy said, “it’s up to you. Can you help them?”  
  
I didn’t understand how Frank could do that all by himself, but he swallowed nervously.  
  
“Oh, gods,” he murmured. “Okay, sure. Just get up the ropes. Now.”  
  
Percy and I lunged for the ladder, dragging a protesting Chrissie with us. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom, but Percy yanked him off and threw him into the mob.  
  
We began to climb as armed legionnaires flooded into the forum. Arrows whistled past my head. An explosion almost knocked me off the ladder. Halfway up, I heard a roar below and glanced down.  
  
Romans screamed and scattered as a full-sized dragon charged through the forum - a beast even scarier than the bronze dragon figurehead on the Argo II. It had rough gray skin like a Komodo lizard’s and leathery bat wings. Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off its hide as it lumbered toward Piper and Jason, grabbed them with its front claws, and vaulted into the air.  
  
“Is that...?” I couldn’t even put the thought into words.  
  
“Frank,” Percy confirmed, a few feet above me. “He has a few special talents.”  
  
“Understatement,” Chrissie muttered, obviously relieved Jason was saved. “Keep climbing!”  
  
Without the dragon and Hazel’s horse to distract the archers, we never would have made it up the ladder; but finally we climbed past a row of broken aerial oars and onto the deck. The rigging was on fire. The foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard.  
  
There was no sign of Coach Hedge, but Leo stood amidships, calmly reloading the ballista. My gut twisted with horror.  
  
“Leo!” I screamed. “What are you doing?”  
  
“Destroy them...” He faced us. His eyes were glazed. His movements were like a robot’s. “Destroy them all.”  
  
He turned back to the ballista, but Percy tackled him. Leo’s head hit the deck hard, and his eyes rolled up so that only the whites showed.  
  
The gray dragon soared into view. It circled the ship once and landed at the bow, depositing Jason and Piper, who both collapsed.  
  
“Go!” Percy yelled. “Get us out of here!”  
  
With a shock, I realized he was talking to me.  
  
I ran for the helm. I made the mistake of glancing over the rail and saw armed legionnaires closing ranks in the forum, preparing flaming arrows. Hazel spurred Arion, and they raced out of the city with a mob chasing after them. More catapults were being wheeled into range. All along the Pomerian Line, the statues of Terminus were glowing purple, as if building up energy for some kind of attack.  
  
I looked over the controls. I cursed Leo for making them so complicated. No time for fancy maneuvers, but I did know one basic command: Up.  
  
I grabbed the aviation throttle and yanked it straight back. The ship groaned. The bow tilted up at a horrifying angle. The mooring lines snapped, and the Argo II shot into the clouds.


	47. Chapter 47

**CHRISSIE**

As soon as we were out of New Rome, Percy had helped me take Jason and Piper to the sickbay. When I'd heard that brick make contact with Jason's head, my heart had seemingly dislodged itself, and was now permanently stuck in my throat.

It felt like the gods were playing some sort of sick joke on me. My brother was taken from me for half a year, and now that I finally had him back, my boyfriend got hurt. My boyfriend... who I still had to introduce to Percy as such. I wondered how he'd react.

"Hey," Percy nudged me. I looked over and saw Piper was already waking up. I helped her get up and handed her a glass of nectar, along with a bottle of water. Percy force-fed Jason some ambrosia in the meantime. I felt a pang of nostalgia, working together as one just like we used to - a well-oiled machine, perfectly in touch.

"He's not waking up," my brother muttered. I frowned and went over, but neither of us knew enough about healing or medicine. We locked eyes.

"I'll get Annabeth," he said.

When he was gone, Piper spoke up.

"Not exactly how you wanted them to meet, huh?"

I let out a shaky sigh in response. I'd been prepared for them not to get along, of course, but this hadn't been on my scenario list.

"It'll be fine," I said, trying to convince myself of it. "How was New Rome?"

"We didn't manage to get very far in the tour before the explosions happened. Pretty buildings, though."

Our conversation was interrupted by the door opening. Annabeth came in first and started checking on Jason, so I moved to stand closer to Percy for comfort.

"Just so you know, if you ever disappear on us again like that, I'm cutting off your toes one by one," I muttered to him.

"Noted." He rested his elbow on my shoulder - curse our height difference - and looked at Annabeth. "What's the verdict, doc?"

"I think he'll be fine with some rest. Someone should stay with him, just in case something happens."

"I'll stay," Piper volunteered. I sent her a grateful smile; I didn't want to leave my brother so soon after having him back.

The three of us went upstairs after that, and Leo sent us a worried look. “Is Jason-?”  
  
“He’s resting,” I said. “Piper’s keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine.”  
  
Percy gave him a hard look. “Annabeth says you did fire the ballista?”  
  
“Man, I- I don’t understand how it happened. I’m so sorry-”  
  
“Sorry?” Percy growled.  
  
Annabeth put a hand on my brother's chest. “We’ll figure it out later. Right now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What’s the situation with the ship?”  
  
Leo told us about the damage and the needed supplies. He was bemoaning the shortage of Celestial bronze when Festus began to whir and squeak.  
  
“Perfect.” Leo sighed with relief.  
  
“What’s perfect?” Annabeth said. “I could use some perfect about now.”  
  
Leo managed a smile. “Everything we need in one place. Frank, why don’t you turn into a bird or something? Fly down and tell your girlfriend to meet us at the Great Salt Lake in Utah.”  
  
Once we got there, it wasn’t a pretty landing. With all of the damage done to the ship, Leo could barely manage a controlled descent. We'd all strapped ourselves in below - except for Coach Hedge, who insisted on staying above deck. I'd joined Piper in the sickbay, holding Jason's hand. He was snoring softly, with an ice pack placed on his head to prevent swelling.  
  
After a few moments, Leo and the girl Percy had befriended, Hazel, passed by. I held a finger to my lips to signal quiet, and Leo nodded, though he still looked guilty.

They came back a while later to inform us about the two parties that'd get the necessary supplies, and so Piper went with them to form a group of three.

And then it was just me.

Eventually, I carefully lifted Jason and moved him to his own cabin - the beds in the sleeping quarters were a lot more comfortable than the ones in the sickbay. I sat down on the bed next to him and studied his face.

He looked so pale, he might've been dead. Even with the ambrosia we'd managed to get into his system, I was scared he'd wake up different somehow, like maybe with real amnesia or something. I'd always had that tendency to overthink everything, and it was running rampant right now.

I could hear Gleeson Hedge in his room next door, humming a military song - “Stars and Stripes Forever,” maybe? Since the satellite TV was out, the satyr was probably sitting on his bunk reading back issues of Guns & Ammo magazine. He wasn’t a bad chaperone, but he was definitely the most warlike old goat I had ever met. Either way, it didn't help my rising nausea.

I focused back on Jason's face, realizing with a start that he was waking up.

“Hey,” He croaked.

"Hey, Blondie."  
  
“What... what happened? I remember the explosions, and-”  
  
“You remember who I am?”  
  
Jason tried to laugh, but it turned into a painful wince. “Last I checked, you were the best girlfriend ever."

I grinned. "Then it's a good thing I have the best boyfriend ever, isn't it?"

I gave him some nectar to sip and brought him up to speed on everything that'd happened while he'd been out. I was just explaining Leo’s plan to fix the ship when we heard horse hooves clomping across the deck over their heads.  
  
Moments later, Piper, Leo and Hazel stumbled to a stop in the doorway, carrying a large sheet of hammered bronze between them.  
  
“Gods, dude.” I stared at Leo. “What happened to you?”  
  
His hair was greased back. He had welding goggles on his forehead, a lipstick mark on his cheek, tattoos all over his arms, and a T-shirt that read HOT STUFF, BAD BOY, and TEAM LEO.  
  
“Long story,” he said. “Others back?”  
  
“Not yet,” I said.  
  
Leo cursed. Then he noticed Jason sitting up, and his face brightened. “Hey, man! Glad you’re better. I’ll be in the engine room.”  
  
He ran off with the sheet of bronze, leaving Hazel and Piper in the doorway.  
  
I raised a brow at them. “Team Leo?”  
  
“We met Narcissus,” Piper said, which didn’t really explain much. “Also Nemesis, the revenge goddess.”  
  
Jason sighed. “I miss all the fun.”  
  
On the deck above, something went _THUMP_ , as if a heavy creature had landed. Annabeth and Percy came running down the hall. Percy was toting a steaming five-gallon plastic bucket that smelled horrible. Annabeth had a patch of black sticky stuff in her hair. Percy’s shirt was covered in it.  
  
“Roofing tar?” Piper guessed with a grin.  
  
Frank stumbled up behind them, which made the hallway pretty jam-packed with demigods. Frank had a big smear of the black sludge down his face.  
  
“Ran into some tar monsters,” Annabeth said. “Hey, Jason, glad you’re awake. Guys, where’s Leo?”  
  
She pointed down. “Engine room.”  
  
Suddenly the entire ship listed to port. The demigods stumbled. Percy almost spilled his bucket of tar.  
  
“Uh, what was that?” he demanded.  
  
“Oh...” Hazel looked embarrassed. “We may have angered the nymphs who live in this lake. Like…all of them.”

“Great.” Percy handed the bucket of tar to Frank and Annabeth. “You guys help Leo. I’ll hold off the water spirits as long as I can.”  
  
“On it!” Frank promised.  
  
The three of them ran off, leaving Hazel and Piper at the cabin door. The ship listed again, and Hazel hugged her stomach like she was going to be sick.  
  
“I’ll just...” She swallowed, pointed weakly down the passageway, and ran off. Piper gave us a worried glance and followed her.  
  
Jason and I stayed below as the ship rocked back and forth. For a hero, I felt pretty useless. Waves crashed against the hull as angry voices came from above deck - Percy shouting, Coach Hedge yelling at the lake. Festus the figurehead breathed fire several times. Down the hall, Hazel moaned miserably in her cabin. In the engine room below, it sounded like Leo and the others were doing an Irish line dance with anvils tied to their feet. After what seemed like hours, the engine began to hum. The oars creaked and groaned, and I felt the ship lift into the air.  
  
The rocking and shaking stopped. The ship became quiet except for the drone of machinery. Finally Leo emerged from the engine room. He was caked in sweat, lime dust, and tar. His T-shirt looked like it had been caught in an escalator and chewed to shreds. The _TEAM LEO_ on his chest now read: _AM LEO_. But he grinned like a madman and announced that we were safely under way.  
  
“Meeting in the mess hall, one hour,” he said. “Crazy day, huh?”


	48. Chapter 48

**PIPER**

After everyone had cleaned up, Coach Hedge took the helm and us demigods gathered below for dinner. It was the first time we’d all sat down together - just the eight of us. Maybe their presence should’ve reassured me, but seeing all of us in one place only reminded me that the Prophecy of Eight was unfolding at last. No more waiting for Leo to finish the ship. No more easy days at Camp Half-Blood, pretending the future was still a long way off. We were under way, with a bunch of angry Romans behind them and the ancient lands ahead. The giants would be waiting. Gaea was rising. And unless they succeeded in this quest, the world would be destroyed.  
  
The others must’ve felt it too. The tension in the mess hall was like an electrical storm brewing, which was totally possible, considering Percy’s and Jason’s powers. In an awkward moment, the two boys tried to sit in the same chair at the head of the table. Sparks literally flew from Jason’s hands. After a brief silent standoff, like they were both thinking, _Seriously, dude?_ , they ceded the chair to Annabeth and sat at opposite sides of the table.  
  
The crew compared notes on what had happened in Salt Lake City, but even Leo’s ridiculous story about how we'd tricked Narcissus wasn’t enough to cheer up the group.  
  
“So where to now?” Leo asked with a mouthful of pizza. “I did a quick repair job to get us out of the lake, but there’s still a lot of damage. We should really put down again and fix things right before we head across the Atlantic.”  
  
Percy was eating a piece of pie, which was completely blue - filling, crust, even the whipped cream. “We need to put some distance between us and Camp Jupiter,” he said. “Frank spotted some eagles over Salt Lake City. We figure the Romans aren’t far behind us.”  
  
That didn’t improve the mood around the table. I didn’t want to say anything, but I felt obliged... and a little guilty. “I don’t suppose we should go back and try to reason with the Romans? Maybe- maybe I didn’t try hard enough with the charmspeak.”  
  
Chrissie put her hand on my arm. “It wasn’t your fault, Pipes. Or Leo’s,” she added quickly.

Jason nodded.“Whatever happened, it was Gaea’s doing, to drive the two camps apart.”  
  
I was grateful for the support, but still felt uneasy. “Maybe if we could explain that, though-”  
  
“With no proof?” Annabeth asked. “And no idea what really happened? I appreciate what you’re saying, Piper. I don’t want the Romans on our bad side, but until we understand what Gaea’s up to, going back is suicide.”  
  
“She’s right,” Hazel said. She still looked a little queasy from seasickness, but she was trying to eat a few saltine crackers. The rim of her plate was embedded with rubies, and I was pretty sure they hadn’t been there at the beginning of the meal. “Reyna might listen, but Octavian won’t. The Romans have honor to think about. They’ve been attacked. They’ll shoot first and ask questions post hac.”  
  
I stared at my own dinner. The magical plates could conjure up a great selection of vegetarian stuff. I especially liked the avocado and grilled pepper quesadilla, but tonight I didn’t have much of an appetite.  
  
I thought about the visions I’d seen in my knife: Jason with golden eyes; the bull with the human head; the two giants in yellow togas hoisting a bronze jar from a pit. Worst of all, I remembered myself drowning in black water.  
  
I had always liked the water. I had good memories of surfing with my dad. But since I’d started seeing that vision in Katoptris, I’d been thinking more and more of an old Cherokee story my granddad used to tell to keep me away from the river near his cabin. He told me the Cherokees believed in good water spirits, like the naiads of the Greeks; but they also believed in evil water spirits, the water cannibals, who hunted mortals with invisible arrows and were especially fond of drowning small children.  
  
“You’re right,” I decided. “We have to keep going. Not just because of the Romans. We have to hurry.”  
  
Hazel nodded. “Nemesis said we have only six days until Nico dies and Rome is destroyed.”  
  
Jason frowned. “You mean Rome Rome, not New Rome?”  
  
“I think,” Hazel said. “But if so, that’s not much time.”  
  
“Why six days?” Chrissie wondered. “And how are they going to destroy Rome?”  
  
No one answered. I didn’t want to add further bad news, but I felt I had to.  
  
“There’s more,” I said. “I’ve been seeing some things in my knife.”  
  
The big kid, Frank, froze with a forkful of spaghetti halfway to his mouth. “Things such as...?”

“They don’t really make sense,” I said, “just garbled images, but I saw two giants, dressed alike. Maybe twins.”  
  
Annabeth stared at the magical video feed from Camp Half-Blood on the wall. Right now it showed the living room in the Big House: a cozy fire on the hearth and Seymour, the stuffed leopard head, snoring contentedly above the mantel.  
  
“Twins, like in Ella’s prophecy,” Annabeth said. “If we could figure out those lines, it might help.”  
  
“Wisdom’s daughter walks alone,” Percy said. “The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Annabeth, that’s got to mean you. Juno told me... well, she said you had a hard task ahead of you in Rome. She said she doubted you could do it. But I know she’s wrong.”  
  
Annabeth took a long breath. “Reyna was about to tell me something right before the ship fired on us. She said there was an old legend among the Roman praetors - something that had to do with Athena. She said it might be the reason Greeks and Romans could never get along.”  
  
Leo, Hazel and I exchanged nervous looks.  
  
“Nemesis mentioned something similar,” Leo said. “She talked about an old score that had to be settled-”  
  
“The one thing that might bring the gods’ two natures into harmony,” Hazel recalled. “‘An old wrong finally avenged.’”  
  
Percy drew a frowny face in his blue whipped cream. “I was only a praetor for about two hours. Jason, you ever hear a legend like that?”  
  
Jason glanced at Chrissie and swallowed..  
  
“I... uh, I’m not sure,” he said. “I’ll give it some thought.”  
  
Percy narrowed his eyes. “You’re not sure?”  
  
Jason didn’t respond. Chrissie and he were having a silent communication, but I could only see Jason's pleading eyes. _Later_.  
  
Hazel broke the silence. “What about the other lines?” She turned her ruby-encrusted plate. “Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, Who holds the key to endless death.”  
  
“Giants’ bane stands gold and pale,” Frank added, “Won through pain from a woven jail.”  
  
“Giants’ bane,” Leo said. “Anything that’s a giants’ bane is good for us, right? That’s probably what we need to find. If it can help the gods get their schizophrenic act together, that’s good.”  
  
Percy nodded. “We can’t kill the giants without the help of the gods.”  
  
Jason turned to Frank and Hazel. “I thought you guys killed that one giant in Alaska without a god’s help, just the two of you.”  
  
“Alcyoneus was a special case,” Frank said. “He was only immortal in the territory where he was reborn - Alaska. But not in Canada. I wish I could kill all the giants by dragging them across the border from Alaska into Canada, but...” He shrugged. “Percy’s right, we’ll need the gods.”

"What about the last bit?" Hazel pondered. "Curse brings down the last of three, Fire heals and peace breaks free."

"Well, peace breaking free could maybe mean the end of the war," Chrissie said. "But I don't know how it ties in with the healing fire. Could that bit have something to do with Leo, maybe?"

"To storm or fire the world must fall," Jason added. "Could be connected. What's the curse, though? And who are the three?"  
  
I gazed at the walls. I really wished Leo hadn’t enchanted them with images of Camp Half-Blood. It was like a doorway to home that I could never go through. I watched the hearth of Hestia burning in the middle of the green as the cabins turned off their lights for curfew.  
  
I wondered how the Roman demigods, Frank and Hazel, felt about those images. They’d never even been to Camp Half-Blood. Did it seem alien to them, or unfair that Camp Jupiter wasn’t represented? Did it make them miss their own home?  
  
The other lines of the prophecy turned in my mind. What was a woven jail? How could twins snuff out an angel’s breath? The key to endless death didn’t sound very cheerful, either.  
  
“So...” Leo pushed his chair away from the table. “First things first, I guess. We’ll have to put down in the morning to finish repairs.”  
  
“Someplace close to a city,” Annabeth suggested, “in case we need supplies. But somewhere out of the way, so the Romans will have trouble finding us. Any ideas?”  
  
No one spoke. I remembered my vision in the knife: the strange man in purple, holding out a goblet and beckoning to her. He’d been standing in front of a sign that read TOPEKA 32.  
  
“Well,” I ventured, “how do you guys feel about Kansas?”


	49. Chapter 49

**CHRISSIE**

I had trouble falling asleep.  
  
Coach Hedge spent the first hour after curfew doing his nightly duty, walking up and down the passageway yelling, “Lights out! Settle down! Try to sneak out, and I’ll smack you back to Long Island!”  
  
He banged his baseball bat against a cabin door whenever he heard a noise, shouting at everyone to go to sleep, which made it impossible for anyone to go to sleep. I figured this was the most fun the satyr had had since he’d pretended to be a gym teacher at the Wilderness School.  
  
I stared at the bronze beams on the ceiling. The cabins were pretty cozy. Leo had programmed the quarters to adjust automatically to the occupant’s preferred temperature, so it was never too cold or too hot. The mattress and the pillows were stuffed with pegasus down (no pegasi were harmed in the making of these products, Leo had assured me and Piper), so they were über-comfortable. A bronze lantern hung from the ceiling, glowing at whatever brightness I wished. The lantern’s sides were perforated with pinholes, so at night glimmering constellations drifted across her walls.

I had so many things on my mind, I thought I’d never sleep. But there was something peaceful about the rocking of the boat and the drone of the aerial oars as we scooped through the sky.  
  
Finally my eyelids got heavy, and I drifted off.  
  
It seemed like only a few seconds had passed before I woke to the breakfast bell.  
  
“Chris?” Jason knocked on my door. “We’re landing!”  
  
“Landing?” I sat up groggily, walking over to the door to open it for him.

"Nice pj's," he quipped. I was wearing an oversized AC/DC sweater I'd thrift-shopped once over Disney sweatpants that had the Aristocats all over them.

"Whatever, Blondie." I gave him a quick morning kiss on the cheek after closing the door behind him.

"We're coming up on Topeka," he said, following me into the cabin and sitting down on the foot end of my bed as I walked into the bathroom Percy and I shared.

I put some strawberry-flavored toothpaste on my toothbrush. "Fun."

We were both silent for a moment as I brushed my teeth - I'd always had terrible morning breath - and put on deodorant.

I waggled my finger at Jason in a 'turn around' motion and started grabbing clothes out of my drawers. I quickly changed into regular jeans and a Camp shirt and threw my pj's down on my pillow, alerting Jason that I was done.

"Breakfast?" He stood up and held out his hand. I didn't take it, and he noticed. "What's wrong?"

I ran a hand over my face. "Percy doesn't know that we're dating yet, and I don't know how I should tell him." I grabbed a comb and quickly ran it through my hair.

"Well, whatever you decide, I support you," he said. I smiled.

"Gods, how did I get so lucky to have you?" I threw my hair up in a bun and winked at him. "Now, I believe you mentioned food."

I walked into the mess hall and poured a glass of orange juice, which I drank half of and put down. When I turned around from putting a slice of bread into the toaster, Annabeth was drinking the rest.

"Good morning to you too," I supplied, to which she just grinned. We'd had a running joke about stealing each other's breakfast back at camp. Piper had started it on impulse one day, and we all just kind of went with it. I pressed 'eject' on the toaster and cut the toast into two triangles, giving Annabeth one of them, and we ate them on our way to the deck, passing Jason on our way - he'd gone to wake ask Leo to get Piper.

The latter joined us last, and Percy noticed her first. She seemed surprised when he smiled in greeting at her.

"So!" Annabeth spoke up, plucking the bagel out of Piper’s hand and taking a bite. “Here we are. What’s the plan?”

“I want to check out the highway,” Piper said. “Find the sign that says Topeka 32.”  
  
Leo spun his Wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves. “We shouldn’t be far,” he said. “Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?”  
  
Piper explained what she’d seen in the knife - the man in purple with a goblet.  
  
“Purple shirt?” Jason asked. “Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus.”  
  
“Dionysus,” Percy muttered. “If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D-”  
  
“Bacchus isn’t so bad,” Jason said. “I don’t like his followers much...”  
  
I shuddered. Jason, Leo, Piper and I had had an encounter with the maenads a few months ago and almost gotten torn to pieces.  
  
“But the god himself is okay,” Jason continued. “I did him a favor once up in the wine country.”  
  
Percy looked appalled - rightfully so, of course. Mr. D had always been rude to him. The only reason he stopped it with me is because I'd been the one to kill the demigod that murdered his son in the battle of the Labyrinth. “Whatever, man. Maybe he’s better on the Roman side. But why would he be hanging around in Kansas? Didn’t Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?”  
  
Frank grunted. The big guy was wearing a blue tracksuit this morning, like he was ready to go for a jog in the sunflowers.  
  
“The gods haven’t been very good at following that order,” he noted. “Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like Hazel said-”  
  
“And Leo said,” added Leo.  
  
Frank scowled at him. “Then who knows what’s going on with the Olympians? Could be some pretty bad stuff out there.”  
  
“Sounds dangerous!” Leo agreed cheerfully. “Well... you guys have fun. I’ve got to finish repairs on the hull. Coach Hedge is gonna work on the broken crossbows. And, uh, Annabeth - I could really use your help. You’re the only other person who even sort of understands engineering.”  
  
Annabeth looked apologetically at Percy. “He’s right. I should stay and help.”  
  
“I’ll come back to you.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Promise.”

They were so perfect together, it made me smile.

I glanced at Jason, and he smiled at me. I knew he was probably less-than-happy with his reunion to his old camp. It was probably why he'd chosen to wear a Purple shirt today - the color of the Romans. I wanted to go over and comfort him, but Percy was here, so I held myself back.  
  
Frank slid his bow off his shoulder and propped it against the rail. “I think I should turn into a crow or something and fly around, keep an eye out for Roman eagles.”  
  
“Why a crow?” Leo asked. “Man, if you can turn into a dragon, why don’t you just turn into a dragon every time? That’s the coolest.”  
  
Frank’s face looked like it was being infused with cranberry juice. “That’s like asking why you don’t bench-press your maximum weight every time you lift. Because it’s hard, and you’d hurt yourself. Turning into a dragon isn’t easy.”  
  
“Oh.” Leo nodded. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t lift weights.”  
  
“Yeah. Well, maybe you should consider it, Mr.-”  
  
Hazel stepped between them.  
  
“I’ll help you, Frank,” she said, shooting Leo an evil look. “I can summon Arion and scout around below.”  
  
“Sure,” Frank said, still glaring at Leo. “Yeah, thanks.”  
  
I wondered what was going on with those three. The boys showing off for Hazel and razzing each other - that I understood. But it almost seemed like Hazel and Leo had a history. So far as I knew, they’d met for the first time just yesterday. I wondered if something else had happened on their trip to the Great Salt Lake - something they hadn’t mentioned.  
  
Hazel turned to Percy. “Just be careful when you go out there. Lots of fields, lots of crops. Could be karpoi on the loose.”  
  
“Karpoi?” I asked.  
  
“Grain spirits,” Hazel said. “You don’t want to meet them.”  
  
I didn’t see how a grain spirit could be so bad, but Hazel’s tone convinced me not to ask.  
  
“That leaves four of us to check on the mile marker,” Percy said. “Me, Chrissie, Jason, Piper. Should be fun."

"Wait, but that's four people. Isn't that risky?" Hazel asked.

"Chill out, it's fine. Percy and I always count as one person, both in monster attraction and three-person quest rule-wise."

Percy nodded. "I’m not psyched about seeing Mr. D again. That guy is a pain. But Chrissie's on better terms with him, and Jason, if you've done him a favor once-”  
  
“Yeah,” Jason said. “If we find him, I’ll talk to him. Piper, it’s your vision. You should take the lead.”  
  
Piper looked panicked, but she nodded.  
  
“Of course,” she said. “Let’s find the highway.”


	50. Chapter 50

**PIPER**

Leo had said we were close. His idea of “close” needed some work.  
  
After trudging half a mile through hot fields, getting bitten by mosquitoes and whacked in the face with scratchy sunflowers, we finally reached the road. An old billboard for Bubba’s Gas ’n’ Grub indicated we were still forty miles from the first Topeka exit.  
  
“Correct my math,” Percy said, “but doesn’t that mean we have eight miles to walk?”  
  
Jason peered both ways down the deserted road. He looked better today, thanks to the magical healing of ambrosia and nectar. His color was back to normal, and the scar on his forehead had almost vanished. The new gladius that Hera had given him last winter hung at his belt. Most guys would look pretty awkward walking around with a scabbard strapped to their jeans, but on Jason it seemed perfectly natural.  
  
“No cars...” he said. “But I guess we wouldn’t want to hitchhike.”  
  
“No,” I agreed, gazing nervously down the highway. “We’ve already spent too much time going overland. The earth is Gaea’s territory.”

"Hmph." Chrissie made an annoyed sound - I knew she'd been struggling with the idea that her powers might stop powers when Gaea was active.  
  
“Hmm...” Jason snapped his fingers. “I can call a friend for a ride.”  
  
Percy raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? Me too. Let’s see whose friend gets here first.”

"Y'all gonna lose big time, boys," Chrissie drawled in a fake Southern accent.  
  
Jason whistled. I knew what he was doing, but he’d succeeded in summoning Tempest only three times since we’d met the storm spirit at the Wolf House last winter. Today, the sky was so blue, I didn’t see how it could work.  
  
Both Percy and Chrissie simply closed their eyes and concentrated.  
  
I hadn’t studied my friend's twin up close before. After hearing so much at Camp Half-Blood about Percy Jackson this and Percy Jackson that, I thought he looked... well, unimpressive, especially next to Jason, who had the appearance of a true leader at all times - tall, in control, ready to take action. Percy looked more chaotic, he was shorter, and seemed like he was ready to make a sarcastic quip at any moment.  
  
Neither were truly type. If I'd seen Percy in the mall somewhere, I probably would’ve thought he was a skater - cute in a scruffy way, a little on the wild side, definitely a troublemaker. I would have steered clear. I had enough trouble in her life. But I could see why Annabeth liked him, and I could definitely see why Percy needed Annabeth in his life. If anybody could keep a guy like that under control, it was her.

As for Jason... it had been weird, with the Mist-relationship at all, realizing that I would never actually go for someone like that... mainly because he's a guy.  
  
Thunder crackled in the clear sky, shaking me out of my thoughts.  
  
Jason smiled. “Soon.”  
  
“Too late.” Percy pointed east, where a black winged shape was spiraling toward them. At first, I thought it might be Frank in crow form. Then I realized it was much too big to be a bird.  
  
“A black pegasus?” I said. “Never seen one like that.”

Just as the winged stalling started preparing to land, a grey version shot out from behind the gas station, beating him by just seconds. This one I knew - Astra, Chrissie's pegasus. She'd called the winged mare in a few times for a quick trip to her mom's place.  
  
The black pegasus came in for a landing next to Astra. He trotted over to Percy and nuzzled his face, then turned his head inquisitively toward Piper and Jason.  
  
“Blackjack,” Percy said, “this is Piper and Jason. They’re friends.”  
  
The horse nickered.  
  
“Uh, maybe later,” Percy answered.  
  
I knew that Percy could speak to horses just like Chrissie could, being the children of the horse lord Poseidon, but it still kind of startled me every time I realized that.

“What does Blackjack want?” I asked.  
  
“Donuts,” Percy said. “Always donuts. The two of them can carry all four of-”  
  
Suddenly the air turned cold. My ears popped. About fifty yards away, a miniature cyclone three stories tall tore across the tops of the sunflowers like a scene from The Wizard of Oz. It touched down on the road next to Jason and took the form of a horse - a misty steed with lightning flickering through its body.  
  
“Tempest,” Jason said, grinning broadly. “Long time, my friend.”  
  
The storm spirit reared and whinnied. Blackjack backed up skittishly. Astra knew the drill, but still pawed the asphalt nervously.  
  
“Easy, boy,” Percy said. “He’s a friend too.” He gave Jason an impressed look. “Nice ride, Grace.”  
  
Jason shrugged. “I made friends with him during our fight at the Wolf House. He’s a free spirit, literally, but once in a while he agrees to help me.”  
  
The three of them climbed on their respective horses. I had never been comfortable with Tempest. Riding full gallop on a beast that could vaporize at any moment made me a bit nervous. When Chrissie held out her hand to me before Jason had the chance, I gladly took it.  
  
Tempest raced down the road with the pegasi soaring overhead. Fortunately, we didn’t pass any cars, or we might have caused a wreck. In no time, we arrived at the thirty-two-mile marker, which looked exactly as I had seen it in the vision.  
  
Blackjack and Astra landed. All three horses pawed the asphalt. None looked pleased to have stopped so suddenly, just when they’d found their stride.  
  
Blackjack whinnied.  
  
“You’re right,” Percy said. “No sign of the wine dude.”  
  
“I beg your pardon?” said a voice from the fields.  
  
Astra turned so quickly, I almost fell off.  
  
The wheat parted, and the man from my vision stepped into view. He wore a wide-brimmed hat wreathed in grapevines, a purple short-sleeved shirt, khaki shorts, and Birkenstocks with white socks. He looked maybe thirty, with a slight potbelly, like a frat boy who hadn’t yet realized college was over.  
  
“Did someone just call me the wine dude?” he asked in a lazy drawl. “It’s Bacchus, please. Or Mr. Bacchus. Or Lord Bacchus. Or, sometimes, Oh-My-Gods-Please-Don’t-Kill-Me, Lord Bacchus.”  
  
Percy urged Blackjack forward, though the pegasus didn’t seem happy about it.  
  
“You look different,” Percy told the god. “Skinnier. Your hair is longer. And your shirt isn’t so loud.”  
  
The wine god squinted up at him. “What in blazes are you talking about? Who are you, and where is Ceres?”  
  
“Uh... what series?”  
  
“I think he means Ceres,” Jason said. “The goddess of agriculture. You’d call her Demeter.” He nodded respectfully to the god. “Lord Bacchus, do you remember me? I helped you with that missing leopard in Sonoma.”  
  
Bacchus scratched his stubbly chin. “Ah... yes. John Green.”

Chrissie snorted loudly, but covered it u with a cough when het boyfriend glared at her.  
  
“Jason Grace,” he corrected.  
  
“Whatever,” the god said. “Did Ceres send you, then?”  
  
“No, Lord Bacchus,” Jason said. “Were you expecting to meet her here?”  
  
The god snorted. “Well, I didn’t come to Kansas to party, my boy. Ceres asked me here for a council of war. What with Gaea rising, the crops are withering. Droughts are spreading. The karpoi are in revolt. Even my grapes aren’t safe. Ceres wanted a united front in the plant war.”  
  
“The plant war,” Percy said. “You’re going to arm all the little grapes with tiny assault rifles?”  
  
The god narrowed his eyes. “Have we met?”  
  
“At Camp Half-Blood,” Chrissie said, “We know you as Mr. D- Dionysus.”  
  
“Agh!” Bacchus winced and pressed his hands to his temples. For a moment, his image flickered. I saw a different person - fatter, dumpier, in a much louder, leopard-patterned shirt. Then Bacchus returned to being Bacchus. “Stop that!” he demanded. “Stop thinking about me in Greek!”  
  
The twins blinked. “Uh, but-”  
  
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to stay focused? Splitting headaches all the time! I never know what I’m doing or where I’m going! Constantly grumpy!”  
  
“That sounds pretty normal for you,” Percy said.  
  
The god’s nostrils flared. One of the grape leaves on his hat burst into flame. “If we know each other from that other camp, it’s a wonder I haven’t already turned you into a dolphin.”  
  
“It was discussed,” Percy assured him. “I think you were just too lazy to do it.”  
  
I had been watching with horrified fascination, the way I might watch a car wreck in progress. Now I realized Percy was not making things better, and Annabeth wasn’t around to rein him in. I figured my friends would never forgive me if I allowed Percy to be transformed into a sea mammal.  
  
“Lord Bacchus!” I interrupted, slipping off Astra's back.  
  
“Piper, careful,” Jason said.  
  
I shot him a warning glance: _I’ve got this._

“Sorry to trouble you, my lord,” I told the god, “but actually we came here to get your advice. Please, we need your wisdom.”  
  
I used my most agreeable tone, pouring respect into the charmspeak.  
  
The god frowned, but the purple glow faded in his eyes. “You’re well-spoken, girl. Advice, eh? Very well. I would avoid karaoke. Really, theme parties in general are out. In these austere times, people are looking for a simple, low-key affair, with locally produced organic snacks and-”  
  
“Not about parties,” I interrupted. “Although that’s incredibly useful advice, Lord Bacchus. We were hoping you’d help us on our quest.”  
  
I explained about the Argo II and our voyage to stop the giants from awakening Gaea. I told him what Nemesis had said: that in six days, Rome would be destroyed. I described the vision reflected in my knife, where Bacchus offered me a silver goblet.  
  
“Silver goblet?” The god didn’t sound very excited. He grabbed a Diet Pepsi from nowhere and popped the top of the can.  
  
“You drink Diet Coke,” Chrissie said.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Bacchus snapped. “As to this vision of the goblet, young lady, I have nothing for you to drink unless you want a Pepsi. Jupiter has put me under strict orders to avoid giving wine to minors. Bothersome, but there you have it. As for the giants, I know them well. I fought in the first Giant War, you know.”  
  
“You can fight?” Percy asked.  
  
I wished he hadn’t sounded so incredulous.  
  
Dionysus snarled. His Diet Pepsi transformed into a five-foot staff wreathed in ivy, topped with a pinecone.  
  
“A thyrsus!” I said, hoping to distract the god before he whacked Percy on the head. We’d seen weapons like that before in the hands of crazy nymphs, and I wasn’t thrilled to see one again, but I tried to sound impressed. “Oh, what a mighty weapon!”  
  
“Indeed,” Bacchus agreed. “I’m glad someone in your group is smart. The pinecone is a fearsome tool of destruction! I was a demigod myself in the first Giant War, you know. The son of Jupiter!”  
  
Jason flinched - he probably wasn’t thrilled to be reminded that the Wine Dude was technically his big brother.  
  
Bacchus swung his staff through the air, though his potbelly almost threw him off balance. “Of course that was long before I invented wine and became an immortal. I fought side by side with the gods and some other demigod... Harry Cleese, I think.”  
  
“Heracles?” Chrissie suggested politely.  
  
“Whatever,” Bacchus said. “Anyway, I killed the giant Ephialtes and his brother Otis. Horrible boors, those two. Pinecone in the face for both of them!”  
  
I held my breath. All at once, several ideas came together in my head - the visions in the knife, the lines of the prophecy we’d been discussing the night before. I felt like I used to when I was scuba diving with my father, and he would wipe my mask for me underwater. Suddenly, everything was clearer.  
  
“Lord Bacchus,” I said, trying to control the nervousness in her voice. “Those two giants, Ephialtes and Otis... would they happen to be twins?”  
  
“Hmm?” The god seemed distracted by his thyrsus-swinging, but he nodded. “Yes, twins. That’s right.”  
  
I turned to Jason and Chrissie, who were having a silent conversation. I could tell they were following her thoughts: _Twins snuff out the angel’s breath._  
  
In the blade of Katoptris, I’d seen two giants in yellow robes, lifting a jar from a deep pit.  
  
“That’s why we’re here,” I told the god. “You’re part of our quest!”  
  
Bacchus frowned. “I’m sorry, my girl. I’m not a demigod anymore. I don’t do quests.”  
  
“But giants can only be killed by heroes and gods working together,” I insisted. “You’re a god now, and the two giants we have to fight are Ephialtes and Otis. I think... I think they’re waiting for us in Rome. They’re going to destroy the city somehow. The silver goblet I saw in my vision - maybe it’s meant as a symbol for your help. You have to help us kill the giants!”  
  
Bacchus glared at me, and I realized I’d chosen my words poorly.  
  
“My girl,” he said coldly, “I don’t have to do anything. Besides, I only help those who give me proper tribute, which no one has managed to do in many, many centuries.”  
  
Blackjack whinnied uneasily.  
  
I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t like the sound of _tribute_. I remembered the maenads, the crazed followers of Bacchus, who would tear up nonbelievers with their bare hands. And that was when they were in a good mood.  
  
Percy voiced the question that I was too scared to ask. “What kind of tribute?”  
  
Bacchus waved his hand dismissively. “Nothing you could handle, insolent Greek. But I will give you some free advice, since this girl does have some manners. Seek out Gaea’s son, Phorcys. He always hated his mother, not that I can blame him. He didn’t have much use for his siblings the twins, either. You’ll find him in the city they named after that heroine - Atalanta.”  
  
I hesitated. “You mean Atlanta?”  
  
“That’s the one.”  
  
“But this Phorcys,” Jason said. “Is he a giant? A Titan?”  
  
Bacchus laughed. “Neither. Seek out the salt water.”  
  
“Salt water...” Percy said. “In Atlanta?”  
  
“Yes,” Bacchus said. “Are you hard of hearing? If anyone can give you insight on Gaea and the twins, it’s Phorcys. Just watch out for him.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Jason asked.  
  
The god glanced at the sun, which had climbed almost to high noon. “It’s unlike Ceres to be late, unless she sensed something dangerous in this area. Or...”  
  
The god’s face suddenly went slack. “Or a trap. Well, I must be going! And if I were you, I’d do the same!”  
  
“Lord Bacchus, wait!” Jason protested.  
  
The god shimmered and disappeared with a sound like a soda-can top being popped.


	51. Chapter 51

**PIPER**

The wind rustled through the sunflowers. The horses paced in agitation. Despite the dry, hot day, I shivered. A cold feeling... Annabeth and Leo had both described a cold feeling...  
  
“Bacchus is right,” I said. “We need to leave-”  
  
 _Too late_ , said a sleepy voice, humming through the fields all around them and resonating in the ground at my feet.  
  
Percy and Jason drew their swords. Astra shuddered, Chrissie unmoving on her back. I stood on the road between them all, frozen with fear. The power of Gaea was suddenly everywhere. The sunflowers turned to look at us. The wheat bent toward us like a million scythes.  
  
 _Welcome to my party_ , Gaea murmured. Her voice reminded me of corn growing - a crackling, hissing, hot and persistent noise I used to hear at Grandpa Tom’s on those quiet nights in Oklahoma.  
  
 _What did Bacchus say?_ the goddess mocked. _A simple, low-key affair with organic snacks? Yes. For my snacks, I need only two: the blood of a female demigod, and the blood of a male. Piper, my dear, choose which hero will die with you._  
  
“Gaea!” Jason yelled. “Stop hiding in the wheat. Show yourself!”  
  
 _Such bravado_ , Gaea hissed. _But the other one, Percy Jackson, also has appeal. Choose, Piper McLean, or I will._  
  
My heart raced. Gaea meant to kill me. That was no surprise. But what was this about choosing one of the boys? Why would Gaea let either of them go? It had to be a trap.  
  
“You’re insane!” I shouted. “I’m not choosing anything for you!”  
  
Suddenly Jason gasped. He sat up straight in his saddle.  
  
“Jase!” Chrissie yelped. “What’s wrong-?”  
  
He looked down at us, his expression deadly calm. His eyes were no longer blue. They glowed solid gold.  
  
“Percy, help!” I cried out, stumbling back from Tempest.  
  
But Percy galloped away from us. He stopped thirty feet down the road and wheeled his pegasus around. He raised his sword and pointed the tip toward Jason.  
  
“One will die,” Percy said, but the voice wasn’t his. It was deep and hollow, like someone whispering from inside the barrel of a cannon.  
  
“I will choose,” Jason answered, in the same hollow voice.  
  
“No!” Chrissie yelled, her voice cracking, her eyes panicked.  
  
All around us, the fields crackled and hissed, laughing in Gaea’s voice as Percy and Jason charged at each other, their weapons ready.

If it hadn't been for the horses, I would’ve died.  
  
Jason and Percy charged each other, but Tempest and Blackjack balked long enough for Chrissie to yank me up on Astra by my arm as she rode away.

Once at safety, we turned out heads simultaneously to the boys as they crossed swords, gold against bronze. Sparks flew. Their blades blurred - strike and parry - and the pavement trembled. The first exchange took only a second, but I couldn’t believe the speed of their sword fighting. The horses pulled away from each other - Tempest thundering in protest, Blackjack flapping his wings.  
  
“Stop it!” I yelled.  
  
For a moment, Jason heeded my voice. His golden eyes turned toward her, and Percy charged, slamming his blade into Jason. Thank the gods, Percy turned his sword - maybe on purpose, maybe accidentally - so the flat of it hit Jason’s chest; but the impact was still enough to knock Jason off his mount.

"No!" For a moment, the earth stopped shaking, a deadly calm silence filled only with Chrissie's ragged breathing.  
  
Blackjack cantered away as Tempest reared in confusion. The spirit horse charged into the sunflowers and dissipated into vapor.  
  
Percy struggled to turn his pegasus around.  
  
“Percy!” I yelled. “Jason’s your friend. Drop your weapon!”  
  
Percy’s sword arm dipped. I might have been able to bring him under control, but unfortunately Jason got to his feet.  
  
Jason roared. A bolt of lightning arced out of the clear blue sky. It ricocheted off his gladius and blasted Percy off his horse.  
  
Blackjack whinnied and fled into the wheat fields. Jason charged at Percy, who was now on his back, his clothes smoking from the lightning blast.  
  
The ground trembled, and for a horrible moment, I couldn’t find my voice. Gaea seemed to be whispering to me: _You must choose one. Why not let it happen?_  
  
“No!” I screamed. “Jason, stop!”  
  
He froze, his sword six inches from Percy’s face.  
  
Jason turned, the gold light in his eyes flickering uncertainly. “I cannot stop. One must die.”  
  
Something about that voice... it wasn’t Gaea. It wasn’t Jason. Whoever it was spoke haltingly, as if English was its second language.  
  
“Who are you?” I demanded.  
  
Jason’s mouth twisted in a gruesome smile. “We are the eidolons. We will live again.”  
  
“Eidolons...?” My mind raced. I’d studied all sorts of monsters at Camp Half-Blood, but that term wasn’t familiar. “You’re- you’re some sort of ghost?”  
  
“He must die.” Jason turned his attention back to Percy, but Percy had recovered more than either of us realized. He swept out his leg and knocked Jason off his feet.  
  
Jason’s head hit the asphalt with a nauseating conk.

There was only the word 'mangled' to describe Chrissie's pained gasp. The deadly calmness took over again, and this time, the ground wasn't the only thing that stopped it's movement. The wind stopped rustling. The plants stopped moving.

Chrissie was fighting Gaea for control, I realized, and in this state, she probably didn't even notice she was doing it.

Percy rose.  
  
“Stop it!” I screamed again, but there was no charmspeak in my voice. I was shouting in sheer desperation.  
  
Percy raised Riptide over Jason’s chest.  
  
Panic closed up Piper’s throat. I wanted to attack Percy with my dagger, but I knew that wouldn’t help. Whatever was controlling him had all of Percy’s skill. There was no way I could beat him in combat.

I forced myself to focus. I poured all of my anger into my voice. “Eidolon, stop.”

Percy froze.  
  
“Face me,” I ordered.  
  
The son of the sea god turned. His eyes were gold instead of green, his face pale and cruel, not at all like Percy’s.  
  
“You have not chosen,” he said. “So this one will die.”  
  
“You’re a spirit from the Underworld,” I guessed. “You’re possessing Percy Jackson. Is that it?”  
  
Percy sneered. “I will live again in this body. The Earth Mother has promised. I will go where I please, control whom I wish.”  
  
A wave of cold washed over me. “Leo... that’s what happened to Leo. He was being controlled by an eidolon.”  
  
The thing in Percy’s form laughed without humor. “Too late you realize. You can trust no one.”  
  
Jason still wasn’t moving. I had no help, no way to protect him.  
  
Behind Percy, something rustled in the wheat. I saw the tip of a black wing, and Percy began to turn toward the sound.  
  
“Ignore it!” I yelped. “Look at me.”  
  
Percy obeyed. “You cannot stop me. I will kill Jason Grace.”  
  
Behind him, Blackjack emerged from the wheat field, moving with surprising stealth for such a large animal.  
  
“You won’t kill him,” I ordered. But I wasn’t looking at Percy. I locked eyes with the pegasus, pouring all her power into my words and hoping Blackjack would understand. “You will knock him out.”  
  
The charmspeak washed over Percy. He shifted his weight indecisively. “I... will knock him out?”  
  
“Oh, sorry.” I smiled. “I wasn’t talking to you.”


	52. Chapter 52

**CHRISSIE**

Blackjack reared and brought his hoof down on Percy’s head. He crumpled to the pavement next to Jason.

I urged Astra forward and jumped off when we got to the boys.  
  
“Oh, gods!” Piper dismounted. “Blackjack, you didn’t kill him, did you?”  
  
The pegasus snorted. _Please. I know my own strength_.  
  
Tempest was nowhere to be seen. The lightning steed had apparently returned to wherever storm spirits live on clear days.  
  
Piper checked on Jason as I got to Percy. I didn’t see any blood, but a large knot was forming where Blackjack had kicked him. “We have to get them both back to the ship,” I told Piper.  
  
The pegasi bobbed their heads in agreement. With difficulty (unconscious boys are heavy), we got Percy on Blackjack and Jason on Astra reasonably secure, and we took off for the ship.  
  
The others were a little surprised when we came back on pegasi with two unconscious demigods. While Frank and Hazel tended to the horses, Annabeth and Leo helped get us and the boys to the sickbay.  
  
“At this rate, we’re going to run out of ambrosia,” Coach Hedge grumbled as he tended their wounds. “How come I never get invited on these violent trips?”  
  
I sat in between the boys.  
  
“Leo,” Piper said, “are we ready to sail?”  
  
“Yeah, but-”  
  
“Set course for Atlanta. I’ll explain later.”  
  
“But... okay.” He hurried off.  
  
Annabeth didn’t argue with Piper either. She was too busy examining the horseshoe-shaped dent on the back of Percy’s head.  
  
“What hit him?” she demanded.  
  
“Blackjack,” I said.  
  
“What?”  
  
We tried to explain while Coach Hedge applied some healing paste to the boys’ heads. I’d never been impressed with Hedge’s nursing abilities before, but he must have done something right. Either that, or the spirits that possessed the boys had also made them extra resilient. They both groaned and opened their eyes.  
  
Within a few minutes, Jason and Percy were sitting up in their berths and able to talk in complete sentences. Both had fuzzy memories of what had happened. When Piper described their duel on the highway, Jason winced.  
  
“Knocked out twice in two days,” he muttered. “Some demigod.” He glanced sheepishly at Percy. “Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to blast you.”  
  
Percy’s shirt was peppered with burn holes. His hair was even more disheveled than normal. Despite that, he managed a weak laugh. “Not the first time. Your big sister got me good once at camp.”  
  
“Yeah, but... I could have killed you.”  
  
“Or I could have killed you,” Percy said.  
  
Jason shrugged. “If there’d been an ocean in Kansas, maybe.”  
  
“I don’t need an ocean-”  
  
“Dudes,” I interrupted, “Not the time to brag. I'm sure you would be amazingly wonderful at murder, but you need rest."

“Food first,” Percy said. “Please? And we really need to talk. Bacchus said some things that don’t-”  
  
“Bacchus?” Annabeth raised her hand. “Okay, fine. We need to talk. Mess hall. Ten minutes. I’ll tell the others. And please, Percy... change your clothes. You smell like you’ve been run over by an electric horse.”  
  
Leo gave the helm to Coach Hedge again, after making the satyr promise he would not steer them to the nearest military base “for fun.”  
  
We gathered around the dining table, and Piper explained what had happened at TOPEKA 32 - our conversation with Bacchus, the trap sprung by Gaea, the eidolons that had possessed the boys.  
  
“Of course!” Hazel slapped the table, which startled Frank so much, he dropped his burrito. “That’s what happened to Leo too.”

“So it wasn’t my fault.” Leo exhaled. “I didn’t start World War Three. I just got possessed by an evil spirit. That’s a relief!”  
  
“But the Romans don’t know that,” Annabeth said. “And why would they take our word for it?”  
  
“We could contact Reyna,” Jason suggested. “She would believe us.”

My heart sank. I'm not the jealous type, but the way Jason said her name, as if it were a lifeline to a past without me, my heart sank.  
  
Jason turned to Piper with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “You could convince her, Pipes. I know you could.”

The girl in question glanced at me with sympathy. Annabeth rolled her eyes microscopically, and Hazel winced.

I wasn't stupid. I saw clear as day how Reyna felt for Jason that day at Camp Jupiter. Suddenly, my coffee tasted a whole lot more bitter than it usually did.

“I could try,” Piper said halfheartedly. “But Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my dagger blade, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I’m not sure Reyna can stop him.”  
  
Jason’s expression darkened, but the other Romans - Hazel and Frank - nodded in agreement with Piper.  
  
“She’s right,” Frank said. “This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath.”  
  
Hazel grimaced. “This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He’ll try to seize power. If Reyna objects, he’ll say she’s soft on the Greeks. As for those eagles... It’s like they could smell us.”  
  
“They can,” Jason said. “Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely - not from them.”  
  
Leo drummed his fingers. “Great. I should have installed a smoke screen that makes the ship smell like a giant chicken nugget. Remind me to invent that, next time.”  
  
Hazel frowned. “What is a chicken nugget?”  
  
“Oh, man...” Leo shook his head in amazement. “That’s right. You’ve missed the last like, seventy years. Well, my apprentice, a chicken nugget-”  
  
“Doesn’t matter,” Annabeth interrupted. “The point is, we’ll have a hard time explaining the truth to the Romans. Even if they believe us—”  
  
“You’re right.” Jason leaned forward. “We should just keep going. Once we’re over the Atlantic, we’ll be safe - at least from the legion.”  
  
He sounded so depressed, I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him or resentful.

“How can you be sure?” Annabeth asked. “Why wouldn’t they follow us?”  
  
He shook his head. “You heard Reyna talking about the ancient lands. They’re much too dangerous. Roman demigods have been forbidden to go there for generations. Even Octavian couldn’t get around that rule.”  
  
Frank swallowed a bite of burrito like it had turned to cardboard in his mouth. “So, if we go there...”  
  
“We’ll be outlaws as well as traitors,” Jason confirmed. “Any Roman demigod would have the right to kill us on sight. But I wouldn’t worry about that. If we get across the Atlantic, they’ll give up on chasing us. They’ll assume that we’ll die in the Mediterranean - the Mare Nostrum.”  
  
Percy pointed his pizza slice at Jason. “You, sir, are a ray of sunshine.”  
  
Jason didn’t argue. The other demigods stared at their plates, except for Percy, who continued to enjoy his pizza. I'd never been so thankful for the emotional density my twin was made of. I wasn't sure how I wanted him to know about me and Jason, but this was not it.  
  
“So let’s plan ahead,” Percy suggested, “and make sure we don’t die. Mr. D - Bacchus- Ugh, do I have to call him Mr. B now? Anyway, he mentioned the twins in Ella’s prophecy. Two giants. Otis and, uh, something that started with an F?”  
  
“Ephialtes,” I supplied, not wanting to be too quiet. Percy may be dense, but he'd still know that something was up if I didn't go into strategy mode, so I forced myself to leave my personal issues behind me for at least the moment.  
  
“Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade...” Annabeth ran her finger along the rim of her cup. “I remember a story about twin giants. They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains.”  
  
Frank nearly choked. “Well, that’s great. Giants who can use mountains like building blocks. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?”  
  
“Something like that,” Percy said. “I don’t think we should count on his help this time. He wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn’t handle.”  
  
Silence fell around the table. I could hear Coach Hedge above deck singing “Blow the Man Down,” except he didn’t know the lyrics, so he mostly sang, “Blah-blah-hum-de-dum-dum.”

I kept repeating the moments that the ground stopped shaking in my head. Every time one of the two people I possibly care most about in this world got hit on that road, I felt myself regain control of my powers, which should've been a good thing - it meant Gaea had less control over her sphere of godly influence at those times. The thing that made it bad was that those were exactly the moments I wouldn't be in control of my powers at normal times, and I couldn't rely on being emotionally stressed out by family getting hurt every time I needed to use my powers.

“She wants two of us.” Piper's voice broke me out of my thoughts..  
  
Everyone turned to look at her.  
  
“Today on the highway,” she said, “Gaea told me that she needed the blood of only two demigods - one female, one male. She- she asked me to choose which boy would die.”  
  
Jason looked at her. “But neither of us died. You saved us.”  
  
“I know. It’s just... Why would she want that?”  
  
Leo whistled softly. “Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess, Khione? She talked about spilling Jason’s blood, how it would taint the place for generations. Maybe demigod blood has some kind of power.”  
  
“Oh...” Percy set down his third pizza slice. He leaned back and stared at nothing, as if the horse kick to his head had just now registered.  
  
“Percy?” Annabeth gripped his arm. I leaned toward him on protective instinct.  
  
“Oh, bad,” he muttered. “Bad. Bad.” He looked across the table at Frank and Hazel. “You guys remember Polybotes?”  
  
“The giant who invaded Camp Jupiter,” Hazel said. “The anti-Poseidon you whacked in the head with a Terminus statue. Yes, I think I remember.”  
  
“I had a dream,” Percy said, “when we were flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said- he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. He said: ‘I want that one chained at my feet, so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake Earth Mother!’”  
  
I wondered if the room’s temperature controls were broken, because suddenly I couldn’t stop shaking.

"You think the giants would use our blood... the blood of two of us-”  
  
“I don’t know,” Percy said. “But until we figure it out, I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured.”  
  
Jason grunted. “That I agree with.”  
  
“But how do we figure it out?” Hazel asked. “The Mark of Athena, the twins, Ella’s prophecy... how does it all fit together?”  
  
Annabeth pressed her hands against the edge of the table. “Piper, you told Leo to set our course for Atlanta.”  
  
“Right,” Piper said. “Bacchus told us we should seek out... what was his name?”  
  
“Phorcys,” Percy said.  
  
Annabeth looked surprised, not used to her boyfriend having the answers. “You know him?”  
  
Percy shrugged. “I didn’t recognize the name at first. Then Bacchus mentioned salt water, and it rang a bell."

"Phorcys is an old sea god from before our dad’s time," I took over, finally realizing who we were talking about. "We've never met him, but supposedly he’s a son of Gaea."

"I just don’t understand what a sea god would be doing in Atlanta," Percy added.  
  
Leo snorted. “What’s a wine god doing in Kansas? Gods are weird. Anyway, we should reach Atlanta by noon tomorrow, unless something else goes wrong.”  
  
“Don’t even say that,” Annabeth muttered. “It’s getting late. We should all get some sleep.”  
  
“Wait,” Piper said.  
  
Once more, everyone looked at her.  
  
She took a deep breath. “There’s one last thing. The eidolons—the possessing spirits. They’re still here, in this room.”


	53. Chapter 53

**PIPER**

I couldn’t explain how I knew.  
  
Stories of phantoms and tortured souls had always freaked me out. My dad used to joke about Grandpa Tom’s Cherokee legends from back on the rez, but even at home in our big Malibu mansion, looking out over the Pacific, whenever my dad recounted the ghost stories for me, I could never get them out of my head.  
  
Cherokee spirits were always restless. They often lost their way to the Land of the Dead, or stayed behind with the living out of sheer stubbornness. Sometimes they didn’t even realize they were dead.  
  
The more I learned about being a demigod, the more convinced I was that Cherokee legends and Greek myths weren’t so different. These eidolons acted a lot like the spirits in my dad’s stories.  
  
I had a gut sense they were still present, simply because no one had told them to go away.  
  
When I was done explaining, the others looked at me uncomfortably. Up on deck, Hedge sang something that sounded like “In the Navy” while Blackjack stomped his hooves, whinnying in protest.  
  
Finally Hazel exhaled. “Piper is right.”  
  
“How can you be sure?” Annabeth asked.  
  
“I’ve met eidolons,” Hazel said. “In the Underworld, when I was... you know.”  
  
Dead.  
  
I had forgotten that Hazel was a second-timer. In her own way, Hazel too was a ghost reborn.  
  
“So... ” Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. “You think these things are lurking on the ship, or-”  
  
“Possibly lurking inside some of us,” I said. “We don’t know.”  
  
Chrissie clenched her fist. “If that’s true-”  
  
“We have to take steps,” I said. “I think I can do this.”

“Do what?” Percy asked.  
  
“Just listen, okay?” I took a deep breath. “Everybody listen.”  
  
I met their eyes, one person at a time.  
  
“Eidolons,” I said, using her charmspeak, “raise your hands.”  
  
There was tense silence.  
  
Leo laughed nervously. “Did you really think that was going to-?”  
  
His voice died. His face went slack. He raised his hand.  
  
Jason and Percy did the same. Their eyes had turned glassy and gold. Hazel caught her breath. Next to Leo, Frank scrambled out of his chair and put his back against the wall.  
  
“Oh, gods.” Annabeth looked at me imploringly. “Can you cure them?”  
  
I wanted to whimper and hide under the table, but I had to help my friends.  
  
I focused on Leo because he was the least intimidating.  
  
“Are there more of you on this ship?” I asked.  
  
“No,” Leo said in a hollow voice. “The Earth Mother sent three. The strongest, the best. We will live again.”  
  
“Not here, you won’t,” I growled. “All three of you, listen carefully.”  
  
Jason and Percy turned toward me. Those gold eyes were unnerving, but seeing all three boys like that fueled my anger.  
  
“You will leave those bodies,” I commanded.  
  
“No,” Percy said.  
  
Leo let out a soft hiss. “We must live.”  
  
Frank fumbled for his bow. “Mars Almighty, that’s creepy! Get out of here, spirits! Leave our friends alone!”  
  
Leo turned toward him. “You cannot command us, child of war. Your own life is fragile. Your soul could burn at any moment.”  
  
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Frank staggered like he’d been punched in the gut. He drew an arrow, his hands shaking. “I- I’ve faced down worse things than you. If you want a fight-”  
  
“Frank, don’t.” Hazel rose.  
  
Jason drew his sword.  
  
“Stop!” I ordered, but my voice quavered. I was rapidly losing faith in my plan. I’d made the eidolons appear, but what now? If I couldn’t persuade them to leave, any bloodshed would be my fault. In the back of my mind, I could almost hear Gaea laughing.  
  
“Listen to Piper.” Hazel pointed at Jason’s sword. The gold blade seemed to grow heavy in his hand. It clunked to the table and Jason sank back into his chair.  
  
Percy growled in a very un-Percy-like way. “Daughter of Pluto, you may control gems and metals. You do not control the dead.”  
  
Annabeth reached toward him as if to restrain him, but Hazel waved her off.  
  
“Listen, eidolons,” Hazel said sternly, “you do not belong here. I may not command you, but Piper does. Obey her.”  
  
She turned toward me, her expression clear: _Try again. You can do this._  
  
I mustered all my courage. I looked straight at Jason - straight into the eyes of the thing that was controlling him. “You will leave those bodies,” I repeated, even more forcefully.  
  
Jason’s face tightened. His forehead beaded with sweat. “We- we will leave these bodies.”  
  
“You will vow on the River Styx never to return to this ship,” Piper continued, “and never to possess any member of this crew.”  
  
Leo and Percy both hissed in protest.  
  
“You will promise on the River Styx,” I insisted.  
  
A moment of tension - I could feel their wills fighting against mine. Then all three eidolons spoke in unison: “We promise on the River Styx.”  
  
“You are dead,” I said.  
  
“We are dead,” they agreed.  
  
“Now, leave.”  
  
All three boys slumped forward. Percy fell face-first into his pizza.

“Percy!” Annabeth and Hazel grabbed him.  
  
Chrissie and I caught Jason’s arms as he slipped out of his chair.  
  
Leo wasn’t so lucky. He fell toward Frank, who made no attempt to intercept him. Leo hit the floor.  
  
“Ow!” he groaned.

“Are you all right?” Hazel asked.  
  
Leo pulled himself up. He had a piece of spaghetti in the shape of a 3 stuck to his forehead. “Did it work?”  
  
“It worked,” I said, feeling pretty sure I was right. “I don’t think they’ll be back.”  
  
Jason blinked. “Does that mean I can stop getting head injuries now?”

"If you keep getting in trouble, I'll give you a head injury," Chrissie said, with a small twinkle in her eyes. "Now c'mon, Blondie, let's get some fresh air into you."


	54. Chapter 54

**JASON**

Chrissie and I walked back and forth along the deck. I was still wobbly, so Chrissie held my waist from my side to keep me balanced, reminding me when she'd done that from my front, back when I'd been knocked out by cyclopes in Detroit on our first quest together.  
  
Leo stood at the helm, conferring with Festus through the intercom; he knew from experience to give us some space. Since the satellite TV was up again, Coach Hedge was in his cabin happily catching up on his mixed martial arts cage matches. The pegasi had flown off somewhere. The other demigods were settling in for the night.  
  
The Argo II raced east, cruising several hundred feet above the ground. Below us, small towns passed by like lit-up islands in a dark sea of prairie.  
  
The night was warm. The ship sailed along more smoothly than a dragon. The only catch: we were flying away from Camp Jupiter as fast as we possibly could.  
  
I stopped amidships and leaned against the rail. Chrissie leaned into my side and put her head on my shoulder.

"When we discussed Ella's prophecy the other night," my girlfriend spoke up, "I don't get why you got so nervous about the legend of an old wrong finally getting avenged."

I hung my head. I'd been dreading the question, knowing how close Chrissie was with Annabeth.

"Chris, I'm not sure what's true and what's not, and if this legend _is_ true... it could be really dangerous."

"For who?"

"All of us." I paused, sighing. "The story goes that the Romans stole something important from the Greeks, back in ancient times, when the Romans conquered the city states."

"What'd they steal?"

"Not sure. I don't know if anyone in the legion has ever known. But according to the story, the thing was taken away to Rome and hidden there. The children of Athena, Greek demigods, have hated us ever since. They've always stirred up their brethren against the Romans. Like I said, I don't know how much is true, but..."

Silence fell. I wondered if I'd said something wrong.

"I just don't get why you don't want to tell Annabeth," Chrissie finally spoke up.

"The legend says that her siblings have been searching for this thing for millennia. Every generation, the goddess chooses a few of her children to find it. Apparently, they're led to Rome by some sign... the Mark of Athena."

"So if she's one of those searchers... this could help her."

I hesitated.

"It might. I'll tell her what little I know when we're closer to Rome. I will, honestly."

"But?" Chrissie turned to look me in the eye.

"But the story claims, at least in the way I heard it, that if the Greeks ever found what was stolen, they'd never forgive us. They'd destroy the legion and Rome, once and for all."

"And Nemesis told the others that Rome'll get destroyed five days from now," she caught on.

"If this tears our group apart, there'll be nobody to stop Gaea from destroying the rest of the world," I finished. She pondered it over.

"Okay," she finally agreed. "I may not agree with your decision to keep this quiet, but I won't interfere."

"Thanks, Chris." I smiled at her. "Sorry about fighting your brother today."

"It wasn't you," she shook off my statement. "And besides, he needs a knock on the head every once in a while. I'm just worried about Gaea."

"About the sacrifice?"

"Amongst other things, yes."

"Well, I don't accept that. We're going to stop her. We're all gonna come back alive, I promise you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she murmured, still deep in thought.

"What's going on in there?" I tapped her temple gently, taking her hand afterwards.

"It's... it's my powers."

I frowned. "What about your powers?"

"Well, every time one of you got hit, I could feel them coming back. For those little moments, I overpowered Gaea."

"But that's great! That means you can take over!"

"No. It means I can only use my powers when I'm in emotional distress. I can't rely on that."

I hadn't thought of it like that.

Chrissie yawned, and I put my arm around her shoulder.

"C'mon, we both need sleep right now," I said, turning us around to walk to the sleeping quarters.


	55. Chapter 55

**CHRISSIE**

That night, I dreamt of the Underworld.

How I knew where I was, I had no idea, but the place scared me. Terrified me, actually. I only saw flashes, but I felt like they were all in one place - Tartarus. I saw a river which seemed to be made of liquid fire, and a huge field of regrowing monsters that I wished I could erase from my own brain, as well as several winged bat-like creatures who I wasn't keen on getting dream-close to. Finally, I saw a little hut surrounded by drakon carcasses. I wanted to see inside, know who it belonged to, but before I could will myself to move forward, someone grabbed my shoulders and shook me awake.

"What? What's wrong?" I said, squinting my eyes to adjust to the light.

"It's Percy and Annabeth," Frank's voice reached my ears. "They're gone, we can't find them!"

"What?" I shot up in bed, throwing off my covers. I threw on a big sweatshirt to cover my pj's, ignoring Frank's blush, and rushed out the door.

"When did the alarm go off? I didn't hear it," I said over my shoulder, making my way to the deck.

"It didn't go off, that't the point," Frank yelled back at me. I stopped in my tracks.

"What?" I breathed. "But if the alarm didn't go off, they can't have been taken, right?"

I turned around to see Frank pondering that.

I concentrated on Percy. _If I were my idiot brother, where would I be with my girlfriend that's not either of our bunks?_

My eyes widened. "C'mon," I said, grabbing Frank's sleeve and heading to the staircase.

"Where are we going," he asked. I threw open the door to the stables and tsk-ed.

"Oh... You are in so much trouble.”  
  
“What...?” Percy rubbed his eyes. “Oh, we just fell asleep.”  
  
Frank averted his eyes as if the sight of them together might burn him.  
  
“Everyone thinks you’ve been kidnapped,” he said. “We’ve been scouring the ship. When Coach Hedge finds out - oh, gods, you’ve been here all night?”

“Frank!” Annabeth’s ears were as red as strawberries. “We just came down here to talk. We fell asleep. Accidentally. That’s it.”  
  
“Kissed a couple of times,” Percy said.  
  
Annabeth glared at him. “Not helping!”  
  
“We’d better..” Frank pointed to the stable doors. “Uh, we’re supposed to meet for breakfast. Would you explain what you did - I mean didn’t do? I mean... I really don’t want that faun- I mean satyr- to kill me.”  
  
Frank ran. I smirked in amusement at him - or rather, the door - and threw a salute before leaving to get changed.  
  
When everyone finally gathered in the mess hall, it wasn’t quite as bad as Frank had feared. Jason and Piper were mostly relieved. Leo couldn’t stop grinning and muttering, “Classic. Classic.” Only Hazel seemed scandalized, maybe because she was from the 1940s. She kept fanning her face and wouldn’t meet Percy’s eyes.  
  
Naturally, Coach Hedge went ballistic; but Percy obviously found it hard to take the satyr seriously since he was barely five feet tall.  
  
“Never in my life!” Coach bellowed, waving his bat and knocking over a plate of apples. “Against the rules! Irresponsible!”  
  
“Coach,” Annabeth said, “it was an accident. We were talking, and we fell asleep.”  
  
“Besides,” Percy said, “you’re starting to sound like Terminus.”  
  
Hedge narrowed his eyes. “Is that an insult, Jackson? ’Cause I’ll- I’ll terminus you, buddy!”  
  
Percy tried not to laugh. “It won’t happen again, Coach. I promise. Now, don’t we have other things to discuss?”  
  
Hedge fumed. “Fine! But I’m watching you, Jackson. And you, Annabeth Chase, I thought you had more sense-”  
  
Jason cleared his throat. “So grab some food, everybody. Let’s get started.”  
  
The meeting was like a war council with donuts. Then again, back at Camp Half-Blood we used to have our most serious discussions around the Ping-Pong table in the rec room with crackers and Cheez Whiz, so us Greeks felt right at home.  
  
Percy told us about his dream - twin giants planning a reception for us in an underground parking lot with rocket launchers, and Nico di Angelo trapped in a bronze jar, slowly dying from asphyxiation with pomegranate seeds at his feet.  
  
Hazel choked back a sob. “Nico... Oh, gods. The seeds.”  
  
“You know what they are?” Annabeth asked.  
  
Hazel nodded. “He showed them to me once. They’re from our stepmother’s garden.”  
  
“Your step... oh,” Percy said. “You mean Persephone.”  
  
We had met the wife of Hades once. She hadn’t been exactly warm and sunny. We had also been to her Underworld garden - a creepy place full of crystal trees and flowers that bloomed bloodred and ghost white.  
  
“The seeds are a last-resort food,” Hazel said. I could tell she was nervous, because all the silverware on the table was starting to move toward her. “Only children of Hades can eat them. Nico always kept some in case he got stuck somewhere. But if he’s really imprisoned-”  
  
“The giants are trying to lure us,” Annabeth said. “They’re assuming we’ll try to rescue him.”  
  
“Well, they’re right!” Hazel looked around the table, her confidence apparently crumbling. “Won’t we?”  
  
“Yes!” Coach Hedge yelled with a mouthful of napkins. “It’ll involve fighting, right?”  
  
“Hazel, of course we’ll help him,” I said. “But how long do we have before... uh, I mean, how long can Nico hold out?”  
  
“One seed a day,” Hazel said miserably. “That’s if he puts himself in a death trance.”  
  
“A death trance?” Annabeth scowled. “That doesn’t sound fun.”  
  
“It keeps him from consuming all his air,” Hazel said. “Like hibernation, or a coma. One seed can sustain him one day, barely.”  
  
“And he has five seeds left,” Percy said. “That’s five days, including today."

"The giants must have planned it that way," I theorized, "so we’d have to arrive by July first. Assuming Nico is hidden somewhere in Rome-”  
  
“That’s not much time,” Piper summed up. She put her hand on Hazel’s shoulder. “We’ll find him. At least we know what the lines of the prophecy mean now. ‘Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, who holds the key to endless death.’ Your brother’s last name: di Angelo. Angelo is Italian for ‘angel.’”  
  
“Oh, gods,” Hazel muttered. “Nico...”

Percy stared at his jelly donut. We had a rocky history with Nico di Angelo. The guy had once tricked us into visiting Hades’s palace, before Percy would go into the Styx, and we had ended up in a cell. But Nico was a good guy. Back when I'd gone on a date with one of Apollo's daughters, Evangeline, he'd obviously felt at ease around me. I could tell what that was about, of course, which couldn't have been easy for a guy from the thirties, especially considering his parentage already making him feel like an outcast. I'd never confronted him about it, though. It was up to him to see when, if at all, he wanted to say something. For now, it was just enough that he had a safe space with me, even if the date that made him know about my bisexuality went gods-awful.  
  
“We’ll rescue him,” I spoke up. “We have to. The prophecy says he holds the key to endless death.”  
  
“That’s right,” Piper said encouragingly. “Hazel, your brother went searching for the Doors of Death in the Underworld, right? He must’ve found them.”  
  
“He can tell us where the doors are,” I added.

"Maybe even how to close them, too," Percy put in.  
  
Hazel took a deep breath. “Yes. Good.”  
  
“Uh...” Leo shifted in his chair. “One thing. The giants are expecting us to do this, right? So we’re walking into a trap?”  
  
Hazel looked at Leo like he’d made a rude gesture. “We have no choice!”  
  
“Don’t get me wrong, Hazel. It’s just that your brother, Nico... he knew about both camps, right?”

“Well, yes,” Hazel said.  
  
“He’s been going back and forth,” Leo said, “and he didn’t tell either side.”  
  
Jason sat forward, his expression grim. “You’re wondering if we can trust the guy. So am I.”

We'd been holding hands underneath the table, but I yanked mine out of his grip, looking at him in utter disbelief. I saw shock crossing Percy's face from the corner of my eye, but right now, I didn't even care.  
  
Hazel shot to her feet. “I don’t believe this. He’s my brother. He brought me back from the Underworld, and you don’t want to help him?”  
  
Frank put his hand on her shoulder. “Nobody’s saying that.” He glared at Leo. “Nobody had better be saying that.”  
  
Leo blinked. “Look, guys. All I mean is-”  
  
“Chrissie, Hazel,” Jason addressed us. “Leo is raising a fair point. I remember Nico from Camp Jupiter. Now I find out he also visited Camp Half-Blood. That does strike me as... well, a little shady. Do we really know where his loyalties lie? We just have to be careful.”  
  
Hazel’s arms shook. A silver platter zoomed toward her and hit the wall to her left, splattering scrambled eggs. “You... the great Jason Grace... the praetor I looked up to. You were supposed to be so fair, such a good leader. And now you...” Hazel stomped her foot and stormed out of the mess hall.  
  
“Hazel!” Leo called after her. “Ah, jeez. I should-”  
  
“You’ve done enough,” I growled, following Hazel out and slamming the door.


	56. Chapter 56

**PERCY**

Frank got up to follow the girls, but Piper gestured for him to wait.  
  
“Give her time,” Piper advised. Then she frowned at Leo and Jason. “You guys, that was pretty cold.”  
  
Jason looked shocked. “Cold? I’m just being cautious!”  
  
“He's Hazels brother, and he's dying,” Piper said.  
  
“I’ll go talk to her,” Frank insisted.  
  
“No,” Piper said. “Let her cool down first. Trust me on this. I’ll go check on her in a few minutes.”  
  
“But...” Frank huffed like an irritated bear. “Fine. I’ll wait.”  
  
From up above came a whirring sound like a large drill.  
  
“That’s Festus,” Leo said. “I’ve got him on autopilot, but we must be nearing Atlanta. I’ll have to get up there... uh, assuming we know where to land.”  
  
Everyone turned to me.  
  
Jason raised an eyebrow. “You’re Captain Salt Water. Any ideas from the expert?”  
  
Was that resentment in his voice? I wondered if Jason was secretly miffed about the duel in Kansas. Jason had joked about it, but I figured that we both harbored a little grudge. You couldn’t put two demigods in a fight and not have them wonder who was stronger.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Somewhere central, high up so we can get a good view of the city. Maybe a park with some woods? We don’t want to land a warship in the middle of downtown. I doubt even the Mist could cover up something that huge.”  
  
Leo nodded. “On it.” He raced for the stairs.  
  
Frank settled back in his chair uneasily. I felt bad for him. On the trip to Alaska, I had watched Hazel and Frank grow close. I knew how protective Frank felt toward her. I also noticed the baleful look Frank was giving Leo. I decided it might be a good idea to get Frank off the ship for a while.  
  
“When we land, I’ll scout around in Atlanta,” I said. “Frank, I could use your help.”  
  
“You mean turn into a dragon again? Honestly, Percy, I don’t want to spend the whole quest being everyone’s flying taxi.”  
  
“No,” I said. “I want you with me because you’ve got the blood of Poseidon. Maybe you can help me figure out where to find salt water. Besides, you’re good in a fight.”  
  
That seemed to make Frank feel a little better. “Sure. I guess.”  
  
“Great,” I said. “We should take one more. Annabeth-”  
  
“Oh, no!” Coach Hedge barked. “Young lady, you are grounded.”  
  
Annabeth stared at him like he was speaking a foreign language. “Excuse me?”  
  
“You and Jackson are not going anywhere together!” Hedge insisted. He glared at me, daring me to mouth off. “I’ll go with Frank and Mr. Sneaky Jackson. The rest of you guard the ship and make sure Annabeth doesn’t break any more rules!”  
  
 _Wonderful_ , I thought. Usually, I would've just asked Chrissie to join us, but she was still upset, which could turn out dangerous. Besides, I'm not sure I could keep myself from asking questions about her and Jason holding hands, and being distracted could also be very unhelpful. It was going to have to be a boys’ day out with Frank and a bloodthirsty satyr, to find salt water in a landlocked city.

“This,” I said, “is going to be so much fun.”


	57. Chapter 57

**CHRISSIE**

Annabeth was trying to cheer me and Hazel up, regaling us with Percy’s greatest Seaweed Brain moments (some of which I hadn't even heard the stories of), when Frank stumbled down the hall and burst into her cabin.  
  
“Where’s Leo?” he gasped. “Take off! Take off!”  
  
The three of us shot to our feet.  
  
“Where’s Percy?” Annabeth demanded. “And the goat?”  
  
Frank grabbed his knees, trying to breathe. His clothes were stiff and damp, like they’d been washed in pure starch. “On deck. They’re fine. We’re being followed!”  
  
Annabeth pushed past him and took the stairs three at a time, Hazel and I right behind her and Frank trailing, still gasping for air. Percy and Hedge lay on the deck, looking exhausted. Hedge was missing his shoes. He grinned at the sky, muttering, “Awesome. Awesome.” Percy was covered with nicks and scratches, like he’d jumped through a window. I rushed over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but he took Annabeth’s hand and put his other hand on my forearm, squeezing weakly as if to say, _Be right with you guys, as soon as the world stops spinning._  
  
Leo, Piper, and Jason, who’d been eating in the mess hall, came rushing up the stairs.  
  
“What? What?” Leo cried, holding a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. “Can’t a guy even take a lunch break? What’s wrong?”  
  
“Followed!” Frank yelled again.  
  
“Followed by what?” Jason asked.  
  
“I don’t know!” Frank panted. “Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!”  
  
Annabeth looked like she wanted to strangle the guy. I wasn’t sure her hands would fit around his thick neck, though.

“That makes absolutely no sense," she concluded. "Leo, you’d better get us out of here.”  
  
Leo put his sandwich between his teeth, pirate style, and ran for the helm.  
  
Soon the Argo II was rising into the sky. Annabeth manned the aft crossbow. I sat across from my twin with a bottle of water he occasionally took from my hand to sip.

So far, I saw no sign of pursuit by whales or otherwise, but Percy, Frank, and Hedge didn’t start to recover until the Atlanta skyline was a hazy smudge in the distance.  
  
“Charleston,” Percy said, his voice hoarse. He still sounded pretty shaken up. “Set course for Charleston.”  
  
“Charleston?” Jason said the name as if it brought back bad memories. “What exactly did you find in Atlanta?”  
  
Frank unzipped his backpack and starting bringing out souvenirs. “Some peach preserves. A couple of T-shirts. A snow globe. And, um, these not-really-Chinese handcuffs.”  
  
That didn't clear things up. “How about you start from the top," I said.

"Of the story, not the backpack,” Annabeth added.  
  
We all gathered on the quarterdeck so Leo could hear the conversation as he navigated. Percy and Frank took turns relating what had happened at the Georgia Aquarium, with Coach Hedge interjecting from time to time: “That was awesome!” or “Then I kicked her in the head!”  
  
At least the coach seemed to have forgotten about Percy and Annabeth falling asleep in the stable the night before.  
  
When Percy explained about the captive sea creatures in the aquarium, I started shaking with anger. The winds picked up around me, swirling everyone's hair around. Jason took one step toward me and I glared at him. No way he got to calm me down now, not after what he'd said. Below us, the sea churned dangerously, and he got the hint, stepping back to his original place.

“We will help them," Annabeth told me.  
  
“We have to,” Percy said. “But in time. We have to figure out how. I just wish...” He shook his head. “Never mind. First we have to deal with this bounty on our heads.”  
  
Coach Hedge had lost interest in the conversation - probably because it was no longer about him - and wandered toward the bow of the ship, practicing his roundhouse kicks and complimenting himself on his technique.  
  
Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. “A bounty on our heads... as if we didn’t attract enough monsters already.”  
  
“Do we get WANTED posters?” Leo asked. “And do they have our bounties, like, broken down on a price list?”  
  
Hazel wrinkled her nose. “What are you talking about?”  
  
“Just curious how much I’m going for these days,” Leo said. “I mean, I can understand not being as pricey as Chrissie or Percy or Jason, maybe... but am I worth, like, two Franks, or three Franks?”  
  
“Hey!” Frank complained. I rolled my eyes, not Leo's biggest fan at the moment.  
  
“Knock it off,” Annabeth ordered. “At least we know our next step is to go to Charleston, to find this map.”

Piper leaned against the control panel. She’d done her braid with white feathers today, which looked good with her dark brown hair. I wondered how she found the time. I could barely remember to brush my hair.  
  
“A map,” she said. “But a map to what?”  
  
“The Mark of Athena.” Percy looked cautiously at Annabeth, like he was afraid he’d overstepped. She _had_ been putting out a strong _I don’t want to talk about it_ vibe.  
  
“Whatever that is,” he continued. “We know it leads to something important in Rome, something that might heal the rift between the Romans and Greeks.”  
  
“The giants’ bane,” Hazel added.  
  
Percy nodded. “And in my dream, the twin giants said something about a statue.”  
  
“Um...” Frank rolled his not-exactly-Chinese handcuffs between his fingers. “According to Phorcys, we’d have to be insane to try to find it. But what is it?”  
  
Everyone looked at Annabeth. She frowned at Jason, who was studying her, both of them looking nervous.  
  
“I- I’m close to an answer,” she finally said. “I’ll know more if we find this map. Jason, the way you reacted to the name Charleston... have you been there before?”  
  
Jason glanced uneasily at me, but I ignored him.  
  
“Yeah,” he admitted. “Reyna and I did a quest there about a year ago. We were salvaging Imperial gold weapons from the C.S.S. Hunley.”  
  
“The what?” Piper asked.  
  
“Whoa!” Leo said. “That’s the first successful military submarine. From the Civil War. I always wanted to see that.”  
  
“It was designed by Roman demigods,” Jason said. “It held a secret stash of Imperial gold torpedoes - until we rescued them and brought them back to Camp Jupiter.”  
  
Hazel crossed her arms. “So the Romans fought on the Confederate side? As a girl whose grandmother was a slave, can I just say... not cool?”

"As a person with morals," I bit out, "I agree with Hazel."  
  
Jason put his hands in front of him, palms up. “I personally was not alive then. And it wasn’t all Greeks on one side and all Romans on the other. But, yes. Not cool. Sometimes demigods make bad choices.” He looked sheepishly at Hazel and me, standing next to each other, having bonded over our protectiveness of Nico. “Like sometimes we’re too suspicious. And we speak without thinking.”  
  
Hazel stared at him. Slowly it seemed to dawn on her that he was apologizing.  
  
Jason elbowed Leo.  
  
“Ow!” Leo yelped. “I mean, yeah... bad choices. Like not trusting people’s brothers or close friends who, you know, might need saving. Hypothetically speaking.”  
  
I raised one eyebrow at Hazel, who pursed her lips. “Fine. Back to Charleston. Are you saying we should check that submarine again?”  
  
Jason shrugged. “Well... I can think of two places in Charleston we might search. The museum where they keep the Hunley - that’s one of them. It has a lot of relics from the Civil War. A map could be hidden in one. I know the layout. I could lead a team inside.”  
  
“I’ll go,” Leo said. “That sounds cool.”  
  
Jason nodded. He turned to Frank, who was trying to pull his fingers out of the Chinese handcuffs. “You should come too, Frank. We might need you.”  
  
Frank looked surprised. “Why? Not like I was much good at that aquarium.”  
  
“You did fine,” Percy assured him. “It took all three of us to break that glass.”  
  
“Besides, you’re a child of Mars,” Jason said. “The ghosts of defeated causes are bound to serve you. And the museum in Charleston has plenty of Confederate ghosts. We’ll need you to keep them in line.”  
  
Frank gulped. Annabeth smiled at him, and I nodded in encouragement.  
  
“Okay.” Frank relented. “Sure.” He frowned at his fingers, trying to pull them out of the trap. “Uh, how do you-?”  
  
Leo chuckled. “Man, you’ve never seen those before? There’s a simple trick to getting out.”  
  
Frank tugged again with no luck. Even Hazel was trying not to laugh.  
  
Frank grimaced with concentration. Suddenly, he disappeared. On the deck where he’d been standing, a green iguana crouched next to an empty set of Chinese handcuffs.  
  
“Well done, Frank Zhang,” Leo said dryly, doing his impression of Chiron the centaur. “That is exactly how people beat Chinese handcuffs. They turn into iguanas.”  
  
Everybody busted out laughing. Frank turned back to human, picked up the handcuffs, and shoved them in his backpack. He managed an embarrassed smile.  
  
“Anyway,” Frank said, clearly anxious to change the subject. “The museum is one place to search. But, uh, Jason, you said there were two?”  
  
Jason’s smile faded. Whatever he was thinking about, I could tell it wasn’t pleasant.  
  
“Yeah,” he said. “The other place is called the Battery - it’s a park right by the harbor. The last time I was there... with Reyna...” He glanced at me, then rushed on. “We saw something in the park. A ghost or some sort of spirit, like a Southern belle from the Civil War, glowing and floating along. We tried to approach it, but it disappeared whenever we got close. Then Reyna had this feeling - she said she should try it alone. Like maybe it would only talk to a girl. She went up to the spirit by herself, and sure enough, it spoke to her.”  
  
Everyone waited.  
  
“What did it say?” Annabeth asked.  
  
“Reyna wouldn’t tell me,” Jason admitted. “But it must have been important. She seemed... shaken up. Maybe she got a prophecy or some bad news. Reyna never acted the same around me after that.”  
  
“A girls’ adventure, then,” Annabeth said. “Chrissie, Piper and Hazel can come with me.”

"No, I need to talk to Percy," I said. It was time to face the music - I couldn't explain how I knew, but he _definitely_ had connected the dots of my and Jason's relationship.

Annabeth nodded.  
  
“So that’s settled.” She turned to Leo, who was studying his console, listening to Festus creak and click over the intercom. “Leo, how long until we reach Charleston?”  
  
“Good question,” he muttered. “Festus just detected a large group of eagles behind us - long-range radar, still not in sight.”  
  
Piper leaned over the console. “Are you sure they’re Roman?”  
  
Leo rolled his eyes. “No, Pipes. It could be a random group of giant eagles flying in perfect formation. Of course they’re Roman! I suppose we could turn the ship around and fight-”  
  
“Which would be a very bad idea,” Jason said, “and remove any doubt that we’re enemies of Rome.”  
  
“Or I’ve got another idea,” Leo said. “If we went straight to Charleston, we could be there in a few hours. But the eagles would overtake us, and things would get complicated. Instead, we could send out a decoy to trick the eagles. We take the ship on a detour, go the long way to Charleston, and get there tomorrow morning-”  
  
Hazel and I both broke out in protest, but Leo raised his hand. “I know, I know. Nico’s in trouble and we have to hurry.”  
  
“It’s June twenty-seventh,” Hazel said. “After today, four more days. Then he dies.”  
  
“I know! But this might throw the Romans off our trail. We still should have enough time to reach Rome.”  
  
Hazel scowled. “When you say should have enough...”  
  
Leo shrugged. “How do you feel about barely enough?”  
  
Hazel put her face in her hands for a count of three and looked up at me, and an understanding passed between us.

“Sounds about typical for us,” I relented.  
  
“Okay, Leo," Hazel translated the green light we'd decided on. "What kind of decoy are we talking about?”  
  
“I’m so glad you asked!” He punched a few buttons on the console, rotated the turntable, and repeatedly pressed the A button on his Wii controller really, really fast. He called into the intercom, “Buford? Report for duty, please.”  
  
Frank took a step back. “There’s somebody else on the ship? Who is Buford?”  
  
A puff of steam shot from the stairwell, and Leo’s automatic table climbed on deck.  
  
I hadn’t seen much of Buford during the trip. He mostly stayed in the engine room. (Leo insisted that Buford had a secret crush on the engine.) He was a three-legged table with a mahogany top. His bronze base had several drawers, spinning gears, and a set of steam vents. Buford was toting a bag like a mail sack tied to one of his legs. He clattered to the helm and made a sound like a train whistle.  
  
“This is Buford,” Leo announced.  
  
“You name your furniture?” Frank asked.  
  
Leo snorted. “Man, you just wish you had furniture this cool. Buford, are you ready for Operation End Table?”  
  
Buford spewed steam. He stepped to the railing. His mahogany top split into four pie slices, which elongated into wooden blades. The blades spun, and Buford took off.  
  
“A helicopter table,” Percy muttered. “Gotta admit, that’s cool. What’s in the bag?”  
  
“Dirty demigod laundry,” Leo said. “I hope you don’t mind, Frank.”  
  
Frank choked. “What?”  
  
“It’ll throw the eagles off our scent.”  
  
“Those were my only extra pants!”  
  
Leo shrugged. “I asked Buford to get them laundered and folded while he’s out. Hopefully he will.” He rubbed his hands and grinned. “Well! I call that a good day’s work. I’m gonna calculate our detour route now. See you all at dinner!”


	58. Chapter 58

**CHRISSIE**

Back in my cabin, I threw myself onto my bed and sighed loudly into my pillow. When I lifted my face from it, I saw my mascara smeared onto it, so I went into the bathroom to take off the remainder, returning to my cabin afterwards only to hear a knock on the door.

"C'min," I called out, taking my hair out of the braid it was already falling out of. The door opened, and Jason stepped in.

"Hey," he said sheepishly. He closed the door behind him and stood in front of me, nerves showing in his eyes.

"Hi." My voice came out softer than I'd expected.

He lifted his hand to wards my face, hesitating when my glare hardened, but he tucked an unruly lock of hair behind my ear anyway. A moment of silence passed before he spoke up.

"I really am sorry."

I sighed. My feelings churned inside me, seemingly crushing my lungs very slowly.

"I know."

"I _know_ what I said was wrong, I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to be on the safe side, to keep _you_ safe." He cupped my face in his hands. "I know you trust him, and I didn't want that to hurt you in any way later."

"I can take care of myself," I defended weakly.

"I know that. But I don't want you thinking you have to take care of yourself on your own."

I felt the corners of my mouth going up on their own account. Finally, I nodded and wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him close to me. He took his hands off of my jaw to hug me back, and I felt him press a kiss onto the top of my head as I buried my face in his chest.

We ended up skipping dinner, sharing a platter of my mom's homemade blue chocolate chip cookies instead. We told dumb jokes and exchanged old stories until the Coach's curfew, sharing a short but sweet kiss before he left for his own cabin.

That night, I dreamt the same underworld dream as before, with the bat-like demons, the fiery river, the monster field and the big cabin. Just like last time, though, I woke up when I tried to get inside. I went through the usual routine - braiding my hair, getting dressed, stealing a bite from Piper's toast and some mixed fruit juice from Annabeth - and finally trudged up the stairs, slightly dreading talking to Percy about Jason.

Leo had docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, and wrought-iron fences. Antique cannons pointed at the water.

Leo and Frank were already off-ship, and neither the coach nor Percy or the other girls were on deck yet, so I could afford to give Jason a quick kiss for good luck. He promised to be back by sunset and pressed another kiss onto the back of my hand. I watched them walk to the museum until Hazel came up, followed by Piper.

They were ready to go by the time Annabeth came up on deck, and Percy had come up in the meantime too. I walked over to him and we both leaned on the starboard rail, gazing over the bay in comfortable silence.  
  
Annabeth came up and took his hand. “What are you going to do while we’re gone?”  
  
“Jump into the harbor,” he said casually, like another kid might say, _I’m going to get a snack_. “I want to try communicating with the local Nereids. Maybe they can give me some advice about how to free those captives in Atlanta. Besides, I think the sea might be good for me. Being in that aquarium made me feel... unclean.”  
  
Annabeth kissed him, and I looked over the water, used to it. “Good luck, Seaweed Brain. Just come back to me, okay?”  
  
“I will,” he promised. “You do the same.”  
  
Annabeth turned to Piper and Hazel. “Okay, ladies. Let’s find the ghost of the Battery.”

We watched them walk to the park in silence. They were almost out of sight when Percy turned to me.

"So," he said.

"So," I repeated. He grinned, and some of my unease went away.

"You and Jason, huh." He did his best to sound neutral, but I sensed the hesitation in his voice.

"Me and Jason," I confirmed. "Not really how I wanted you to find out, but when do either of us ever get what we want?"

"Ain't that the truth," he muttered, finally moving to get off the ship. "So how _did_ you want me to find out?"

I paused. "Well, certainly not by my dumbass boyfriend trying to protect me from my own friend who needs our help after you almost kill in a random Kansas field because you were both possessed."

Percy rolled his eyes, but laughed anyway.

"You know he's gonna have to treat you like a princess forever or I'll rearrange his face, right?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I know, and he will. He's a real Goody Two-Shoes Prince Charming."

"Never thought you to be the type to fall for that, though."

"Me neither," I admitted. "It sort of just happened."

We finally reached the water, having walked here as we talked. Percy made an 'after you' gesture, and I jumped in.

The local Nereids turned out to not have that much advice, but they did tell us to look for Chiron's brothers. They gave us a bunch of coordinates, and left us alone to sit and rest on some old crates that'd apparently been dumped into the water.

We were discussing on possible meanings of certain prophecy lines when we heard something drop into the water and Annabeth's dagger sunk down between us slowly. We shared one look and Percy thrust up his hands.

We shot upwards, Percy manipulating a wall of seawater to pick up the three Roman officers threatening our friends and throw them into the bay.

I walked over and handed Annabeth's dagger back to her. "You dropped this."

"Oh, I love you two," Annabeth grinned.

“Guys,” Hazel interrupted. She had a little smile on her face. “We need to hurry.”  
  
Down in the water, Octavian yelled, “Get me out of here! I’ll kill you!”  
  
“Tempting,” Percy called down.  
  
“What?” Octavian shouted. He was holding on to one of his guards, who was having trouble keeping them both afloat.  
  
“Nothing!” Percy shouted back. “Let’s go, guys.”  
  
Hazel frowned. “We can’t let them drown, can we?”  
  
“They won’t,” Percy promised. “I’ve got the water circulating around their feet. As soon as we’re out of range, I’ll spit them ashore.”  
  
Piper grinned. “Nice.”  
  
We climbed aboard the Argo II, and Annabeth ran to the helm. I turned to the others “Piper, get below. Use the sink in the galley for an Iris-message. Warn the others to get back here!”  
  
Piper nodded and raced off.  
  
“Hazel, go find Coach Hedge and tell him to get his furry hindquarters on deck!”  
  
“Right!"

"Percy, Annabeth, get this ship to Fort Sumter. I'm on defense.”  
  
Percy nodded and ran to the mast. Annabeth took the helm. Her hands flew across the controls. We’d just have to hope she knew enough to operate them.

I grabbed a crossbow from one of the long-range weapon crates and glanced at my friends.  
  
We had seen Percy control full-sized sailing ships before with only his willpower. This time, he didn’t disappoint. Ropes flew on their own - releasing the dock ties, weighing the anchor. The sails unfurled and caught the wind. Meanwhile Annabeth fired the engine. The oars extended with a sound like machine-gun fire, and the Argo II turned from the dock, heading for the island in the distance.  
  
The three eagles still circled overhead, but they made no attempt to land on the ship, probably because Festus the figurehead blew fire whenever they got close. More eagles were flying in formation toward Fort Sumter - at least a dozen. If each of them carried a Roman demigod - that was a lot of enemies.  
  
Coach Hedge came pounding up the stairs with Hazel at his hooves.  
  
“Where are they?” he demanded. “Who do I kill?”  
  
“No killing!” I ordered. “Just defend the ship!”  
  
“But they interrupted a Chuck Norris movie!”  
  
Piper emerged from below. “Got a message through to Jason. Kind of fuzzy, but he’s already on his way. He should be- oh! There!”  
  
Soaring over the city, heading in their direction, was a giant bald eagle, unlike the golden Roman birds.  
  
“Frank!” Hazel said.  
  
Leo was holding on to the eagle’s feet, and even from the ship, I could hear him screaming and cursing.  
  
Behind them flew Jason, riding the wind.  
  
“Never seen Jason fly before,” Percy grumbled. “He looks like a blond Superman.”

"Bro, not the time," I scolded. "They're in trouble."  
  
The Roman flying chariot had descended from a cloud and was diving straight toward them. Jason and Frank veered out of the way, pulling up to avoid getting trampled by the pegasi. The charioteers fired their bows. Arrows whistled under Leo’s feet, which led to more screaming and cursing. Jason and Frank were forced to overshoot the Argo II and fly toward Fort Sumter.  
  
“I’ll get ’em!” yelled Coach Hedge.  
  
He spun the port ballista. Before any of us could yell, “Don’t be stupid!” Hedge fired. A flaming spear rocketed toward the chariot.  
  
It exploded over the heads of the pegasi and threw them into a panic. Unfortunately it also singed Frank’s wings and sent him spiraling out of control. Leo slipped from his grasp. The chariot shot toward Fort Sumter, slamming into Jason.  
  
I watched in horror as Jason - obviously dazed and in pain - lunged for Leo, caught him, then struggled to gain altitude. He only managed to slow their fall. They disappeared behind the ramparts of the fort. Frank tumbled after them. Then the chariot dropped somewhere inside and hit with a bone-shattering _CRACK_! One broken wheel spun into the air.  
  
“Coach!” I screamed.  
  
“What?” Hedge demanded. “That was just a warning shot!”  
  
Annabeth gunned the engines. The hull shuddered as they picked up speed. The docks of the island were only a hundred yards away now, but a dozen more eagles were soaring overhead, each carrying a Roman demigod in its claws.  
  
The Argo II’s crew would be outnumbered at least three to one.  
  
“Percy,” Annabeth said, “we’re going to come in hard. I need you to control the water so we don’t smash into the docks. Once we’re there, you’re going to have to hold off the attackers. The rest of you help him guard the ship.”  
  
“But the others!" I protested.  
  
“I’ll find them,” Annabeth promised. “I’ve got to figure out where the map is. And I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who can do that.”  
  
“The fort is crawling with Romans,” Percy warned. “You’ll have to fight your way through, find our friends - assuming they’re okay - find this map, and get everybody back alive. All on your own?”  
  
“Just an average day.” Annabeth kissed him. “Whatever you do, don’t let them take this ship!”


	59. Chapter 59

**CHRISSIE**

Sadly, Octavian survived his little swim in the harbor. I'd been pulling every party trick I had, but shaking the earth underneath the Romans without harming any mortals took more energy than usual, having to control and focus my powers on just a small section of ground. I was also alternating sending out literal heat waves and miniature polar vortexes, making a bunch of Romans faint from the temperature flipping every few seconds. I was faintly aware of Jason and Percy standing on either side to me with their swords drawn, creating a storm together.

I caught a glimpse of Annabeth running away from Reyna and focused my powers on cracking the ground around her to keep the Romans away, holding the earth she walked on still so she's retain her balance as she sprinted to the ship.

The moment Piper pulled her on board, Leo gunned the engines, and I felt Jason change the directions of the winds with Percy pushing us away using a wall of seawater. Percy and I updated Annabeth on our talk with the Nereid, and she went to report to Leo. I grabbed Jason's right hand with my left one, and grabbed Percy's arm with the other, and somehow we managed to keep the storm from destroying the ship, using what was left of our strength to calm it down. The moment the sea and sky had settled again, my vision blurred and the three of us collapsed together.

When I I regained my senses again, I sat with my back against the mast, the boys on either side of me, all of our heads slumped in exhaustion. Annabeth was giving us water, and Piper held a flask of nectar and a ziploc bag of ambrosia.

After a while, everybody gathered around our exhausted bodies.  
  
Frank scowled like he was trying hard to turn into a bulldog. “No sign of pursuit,” he said.  
  
“Or land,” Hazel added. She looked a little green, though I wasn’t sure if that was from the rocking of the boat or from the argument she'd been having with Frank.  
  
Leo turned to Annabeth. “Did you find the map you wanted?”  
  
She nodded, though she looked pale.  
  
“I’ll have to study it,” she said. “How far are we from those coordinates?”  
  
“At top rowing speed, about an hour,” Leo said. “Any idea what we’re looking for?”  
  
“No,” she admitted. “Percy?”  
  
Percy raised his head. His green eyes were bloodshot and droopy. “The Nereid said Chiron’s brothers were there, and they’d want to hear about that aquarium in Atlanta. I don’t know what she meant, but...” He paused, like he’d used up all his energy saying that much. “She also warned us to be careful. Keto, the goddess at the aquarium: she’s the mother of sea monsters. She might be stuck in Atlanta, but she can still send her children after us. The Nereid said we should expect an attack.”  
  
“Wonderful,” Frank muttered.  
  
Jason tried to stand, which wasn’t a good idea. Piper grabbed him to keep him from falling over, and he slid back down the mast.  
  
“Can we get the ship aloft?” he asked. “If we could fly-”  
  
“That’d be great,” Leo said. “Except Festus tells me the port aerial stabilizer got pulverized when the ship raked against the dock at Fort Sumter.”  
  
“We were in a hurry,” Annabeth said. “Trying to save you.”  
  
“And saving me is a very noble cause,” Leo agreed. “I’m just saying, it’ll take some time to fix. Until then, we’re not flying anywhere.”  
  
Percy flexed his shoulders and winced. “Fine with me. The sea is good.”  
  
“Speak for yourself.” Hazel glanced at the evening sun, which was almost to the horizon. “We need to go fast. We’ve burned another day, and Nico only has three more left.”  
  
“We can do it,” Leo promised. “We can make it to Rome in three days- assuming, you know, nothing unexpected happens.”  
  
Frank grunted. He looked like he was still working on that bulldog transformation. “Is there any good news?”  
  
“Actually, yes,” Leo said. “According to Festus, our flying table, Buford, made it back safely while we were in Charleston, so those eagles didn’t get him. Unfortunately, he lost the laundry bag with your pants.”  
  
“Dang it!” Frank barked, which I figured was probably severe profanity for him.  
  
Suddenly, my vision blurred again.  
  
“Did the world just turn upside down?” Percy asked from my left.  
  
Jason agreed from my right. “Yeah, and it’s spinning."

I opened my eyes and saw he was right. "Everything is yellow," I added. "Is it supposed to be yellow?”  
  
“Using all of your powers together really sapped your strength,” Piper told us. “You’ve got to rest.”  
  
Annabeth agreed. “Frank, can you help us get them belowdecks?”  
  
Something must've been up between him and Leo again, because the latter spoke up.  
  
“It’s fine, man,” Leo said. “Just try not to drop them on the way down the stairs.”


	60. Chapter 60

**CHRISSIE**

I had a new entry in my top-ten list of Times Chrissie Felt Useless.  
  
I managed to pass out the moment I got belowdeck, missing the fight against some Shrimpzilla monster and most of the search for Leo, Frank and Hazel.  
  
Apparently, Annabeth, the Coach and Buford the table had rushed around repairing things so we wouldn't sink. The boys, despite being exhausted too, were able to help out too. Percy had searched the ocean for our missing friends. Jason had flown around the rigging, putting out fires from the second green explosion that had (apparently) lit up the sky just above the mainmast. Piper had tried to locate Leo, Hazel and Frank with Katropis. Me? I probably snored.

I woke up about an hour and a half after sunrise. By then, the ship was capable of sailing again, but nobody suggested leaving - not without our friends.  
  
Piper, Annabeth and I sent an Iris-message to Camp Half-Blood. Anything to feel useful. Afterwards, though, we all just paced the deck in silence, staring at the water and hoping for a miracle.  
  
When it finally came - three giant pink bubbles bursting at the surface off the starboard bow and ejecting Frank, Hazel, and Leo - Piper went a little crazy. She cried out with relief and dove straight into the water.  
  
What was she thinking? She didn’t take a rope or a life vest or anything. But she just paddled over to Leo and kissed him on the cheek, which kind of surprised him.  
  
“Miss me?” Leo laughed.  
  
Piper was suddenly furious. “Where were you? How are you guys alive?”  
  
“Long story,” he said. A picnic basket bobbed to the surface next to him. “Want a brownie?”  
  
Once they got on board and changed into dry clothes (poor Frank had to borrow a pair of too-small pants from Jason) the crew all gathered on the quarterdeck for a celebratory breakfast - except for Coach Hedge, who grumbled that the atmosphere was getting too cuddly for his tastes and went below to hammer out some dents in the hull. While Leo fussed over his helm controls, Hazel and Frank related the story of the fish-centaurs and their training camp.  
  
“Incredible,” Jason said. “These are really good brownies.”  
  
“That’s your only comment?” Piper demanded.  
  
He looked surprised. “What? I heard the story. Fish-centaurs. Merpeople. Letter of intro to the Tiber River god. Got it. But these brownies-”  
  
“I know,” Frank said, his mouth full. “Try them with Esther’s peach preserves.”  
  
“That,” Hazel said, “is incredibly disgusting.”  
  
“Pass me the jar, man,” I said, very willing to try anything to do with combining sweet foods.  
  
Hazel and Piper exchanged a look of total exasperation at our antics.  
  
Percy, for his part, wanted to hear every detail about the aquatic camp. He kept coming back to one point: “They didn’t want to meet me?”  
  
“It wasn’t that,” Hazel said. “Just... undersea politics, I guess. The merpeople are territorial. The good news is they’re taking care of that aquarium in Atlanta. And they’ll help protect the Argo II as we cross the Atlantic.”  
  
Percy nodded absently. “But they didn’t want to meet me?”  
  
Annabeth swatted his arm. “Come on, Seaweed Brain!"

I nodded at my best friend's words. "We’ve got other things to worry about. After today, Nico has less than two days.”  
  
“She’s right,” Hazel said. “The fish-centaurs said we have to rescue him. He’s essential to the quest somehow.”  
  
She looked around defensively, as if waiting for someone to argue. No one did.  
  
“Nico must have information about the Doors of Death,” Piper said. “We’ll save him, Hazel. We can make it in time. Right, Leo?”  
  
“What?” Leo tore his eyes away from the controls. “Oh, yeah. We should reach the Mediterranean tomorrow morning. Then spend the rest of that day sailing to Rome, or flying, if I can get the stabilizer fixed by then...”  
  
Jason suddenly looked as though his brownie with peach preserves didn’t taste so good. “Which will put us in Rome on the last possible day for Nico. Twenty-four hours to find him - at most.”  
  
Percy crossed his legs. “And that’s only part of the problem. There’s the Mark of Athena, too.”  
  
Annabeth didn’t seem happy with the change of topic. She rested her hand on her backpack, which, since we'd left Charleston, she always seemed to have with her.  
  
She opened the bag and brought out a thin bronze disk the diameter of a donut. “This is the map that I found at Fort Sumter. It’s...”  
  
She stopped abruptly, staring at the smooth bronze surface. “It’s blank!”  
  
I took it and examined both sides. “It wasn’t like this earlier?”  
  
“No! I was looking at it in my cabin and...” Annabeth muttered under her breath. “It must be like the Mark of Athena. I can only see it when I’m alone. It won’t show itself to other demigods.”  
  
Frank scooted back like the disk might explode. He had an orange-juice mustache and a brownie-crumb beard that made Piper frown at him.  
  
“What did it have on it?” Frank asked nervously. “And what is the Mark of Athena? I still don’t get it.”  
  
Annabeth took the disk from Percy. She turned it in the sunlight, but it remained blank. “The map was hard to read, but it showed a spot on the Tiber River in Rome. I think that’s where my quest starts... the path I’ve got to take to follow the Mark.”  
  
“Maybe that’s where you meet the river god Tibernus,” Piper said. “But what is the Mark?”  
  
“The coin,” Annabeth murmured.  
  
Percy frowned. “What coin?”  
  
Annabeth dug into her pocket and brought out a silver drachma. “I’ve been carrying this ever since I saw my mom at Grand Central. It’s an Athenian coin.”  
  
She passed it around. We all took a good look, but I didn't know what to make of it.  
  
“An owl,” Leo noted. “Well, that makes sense. I guess the branch is an olive branch? But what’s this inscription, ΑΘΕ - Area Of Effect?”  
  
“It’s alpha, theta, epsilon,” Annabeth said. “In Greek it stands for Of The Athenians... or you could read it as the children of Athena. It’s sort of the Athenian motto.”  
  
“Like SPQR for the Romans,” Piper guessed.  
  
Annabeth nodded. “Anyway, the Mark of Athena is an owl, just like that one. It appears in fiery red. I’ve seen it in my dreams. Then twice at Fort Sumter.”  
  
She described what had happened at the fort - the voice of Gaea, the spiders in the garrison, the Mark burning them away. I could tell it wasn’t easy for her to talk about.  
  
Percy took Annabeth’s hand. “I should have been there for you.”  
  
“But that’s the point,” Annabeth said. “No one can be there for me. When I get to Rome, I’ll have to strike out on my own. Otherwise, the Mark won’t appear. I’ll have to follow it to... to the source.”  
  
Frank took the coin from Leo. He stared at the owl. “The giants’ bane stands gold and pale, Won with pain from a woven jail.” He looked up at Annabeth. “What is it…this thing at the source?”  
  
Before Annabeth could answer, Jason spoke up.  
  
“A statue,” he said. “A statue of Athena. At least... that’s my guess.”  
  
I frowned. “You said you didn’t know.”  
  
“I don’t. But the more I think about it... there’s only one artifact that could fit the legend.” He turned to Annabeth. “I’m sorry. I should have told you everything I’ve heard, much earlier. But honestly, I was scared. If this legend is true-”  
  
“I know,” Annabeth said. “I figured it out, Jason. I don’t blame you. But if we manage to save the statue, Greek and Romans together... Don’t you see? It could heal the rift.”

“Hold on.” Percy made a time-out gesture. “What statue?”  
  
Annabeth took back the silver coin and slipped it into her pocket. “The Athena Parthenos,” she said. “The most famous Greek statue of all time. It was forty feet tall, covered in ivory and gold. It stood in the middle of the Parthenon in Athens.”  
  
The ship went silent, except for the waves lapping against the hull.  
  
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Leo said at last. “What happened to it?”  
  
“It disappeared,” Annabeth said.  
  
Leo frowned. “How does a forty-foot-tall statue in the middle of the Parthenon just disappear?”  
  
“That’s a good question,” Annabeth said. “It’s one of the biggest mysteries in history. Some people thought the statue was melted down for its gold, or destroyed by invaders. Athens was sacked a number of times. Some thought the statue was carried off-”  
  
“By Romans,” Jason finished. “At least, that’s one theory, and it fits the legend I heard at Camp Jupiter. To break the Greeks’ spirit, the Romans carted off the Athena Parthenos when they took over the city of Athens. They hid it in an underground shrine in Rome. The Roman demigods swore it would never see the light of day. They literally stole Athena, so she could no longer be the symbol of Greek military power. She became Minerva, a much tamer goddess.”  
  
“And the children of Athena have been searching for the statue ever since,” Annabeth said. “Most don’t know about the legend, but in each generation, a few are chosen by the goddess. They’re given a coin like mine. They follow the Mark of Athena... a kind of magical trail that links them to the statue... hoping to find the resting place of the Athena Parthenos and get the statue back.”  
  
I watched the two of them - Annabeth and Jason - with quiet amazement. They spoke like a team, without any hostility or blame. The two of them had never really trusted each other. I was close enough to both of them to know that. But now... if they could discuss such a huge problem so calmly - the ultimate source of Greek/Roman hatred - maybe there was hope for the two camps, after all.  
  
Percy seemed be having similar thoughts, judging from his surprised expression. “So if we- I mean you- find the statue... what would we do with it? Could we even move it?”  
  
“I’m not sure,” Annabeth admitted. “But if we could save it somehow, it could unite the two camps. It could heal my mother of this hatred she’s got, tearing her two aspects apart. And maybe... maybe the statue has some sort of power that could help us against the giants.”  
  
I stared at Annabeth with awe, just starting to appreciate the huge responsibility my best friend had taken on. And Annabeth meant to do it alone.  
  
“This could change everything,” Piper said. “It could end thousands of years of hostility. It might be the key to defeating Gaea. But if we can’t help you...”  
  
She didn’t finish, but the question seemed to hang in the air: _Was saving the statue even possible?_  
  
Annabeth squared her shoulders. I knew she must be terrified inside, but she did a good job hiding it.  
  
“I have to succeed,” Annabeth said simply. “The risk is worth it.”  
  
Hazel twirled her hair pensively. “I don’t like the idea of you risking your life alone, but you’re right. We saw what recovering the golden eagle standard did for the Roman legion. If this statue is the most powerful symbol of Athena ever created-”  
  
“It could kick some serious booty,” Leo offered.  
  
Hazel frowned. “That wasn’t the way I’d put it, but yes.”  
  
“Except...” Percy took Annabeth’s hand again. “No child of Athena has ever found it. Annabeth, what’s down there? What’s guarding it? If it’s got to do with spiders-?”  
  
“Won through pain from a woven jail,” Frank recalled. “Woven, like webs?”  
  
Annabeth’s face turned as white as printer paper. I suspected that Annabeth knew what awaited her... or at least that she had a very good idea. She was trying to hold down a wave of panic and terror.  
  
“We’ll deal with that when we get to Rome,” Piper suggested, her voice rich enough that I knew there was some charmspeak in her words. “It’s going to work out."

"Annabeth is going to kick some serious booty, too," I added. "You’ll see.”  
  
“Yeah,” Percy said. “I learned a long time ago: Never bet against Annabeth.”

Annabeth looked at the three of us both gratefully.  
  
Judging from their half-eaten breakfasts, the others still felt uneasy; but Leo managed to shake them out of it. He pushed a button, and a loud blast of steam exploded from Festus’s mouth, making everyone jump.  
  
“Well!” he said. “Good pep rally, but there’s still a ton of things to fix on this ship before we get to the Mediterranean. Please report to Supreme Commander Leo for your superfun list of chores!”


	61. Chapter 61

**CHRISSIE**

The next morning we woke to a different ship’s horn - a blast so loud it literally shook me out of bed.  
  
I wondered if Leo was pulling another joke. Then the horn boomed again. It sounded like it was coming from several hundred yards away - from another vessel.  
  
I grabbed my blades and rushed upstairs. Percy joined me on the stairs, wearing pajama pants and a bronze breastplate. He was taking the stairs three at a time, whereas my short legs only allowed two steps per leap, so he passed me quickly, leaving me to run alongside Hazel, whose hair was all blown to one side, as though she'd walked through a cyclone. Frank was already on deck, wearing his Vancouver Winter Olympics shirt inside out. Next to him stood Coach Hedge, who had pulled the night watch, and behind me, Leo ran up on deck, partially (mostly) on fire.

We all looked at the massive cruise ship gliding past as Annabeth and Jason joined us, both looking weirdly non-frazzled. I shivered, suddenly realizing I hadn't put on long sleeves - just an old pastel yellow tank top with a rose printed on the front and some pink pajama shorts. Jason noticed, and was quick to take off his sweater and hand it to me. I smiled and slipped it on, mouthing a ' _thank you_ ', to which he responded with a wink that made my knees just a little bit weak.

Piper finally joined us and gazed at the tourists waving at us from fifteen or sixteen rows of balconies with her mouth open. Some smiled and took pictures. None of them looked surprised to see an Ancient Greek trireme. Maybe the Mist made it look like a fishing boat, or perhaps the cruisers thought the Argo II was a tourist attraction.  
  
The cruise ship blew its horn again, and the Argo II had a shaking fit.  
  
Coach Hedge plugged his ears. “Do they have to be so loud?”  
  
“They’re just saying hi,” Frank speculated.  
  
“WHAT?” Hedge yelled back.  
  
The ship edged past them, heading out to sea. The tourists kept waving. If they found it strange that the Argo II was populated by half-asleep kids in armor and pajamas and a man with goat legs, they didn’t let on.  
  
“Bye!” Leo called, raising his smoking hand.  
  
“Can I man the ballistae?” Hedge asked.  
  
“No,” Leo said through a forced smile.  
  
Hazel rubbed her eyes and looked across the glittering green water. “Where are- oh... Wow.”  
  
I followed her gaze and gasped. Without the cruise ship blocking our view, we could see a mountain jutting from the sea less than half a mile to the north. I had seen impressive cliffs before - hell, I'd held up the sky on top of one - but nothing I'd ever seen was as amazing as this massive fist of blinding white rock thrust into the sky. On one side, the limestone cliffs were almost completely sheer, dropping into the sea over a thousand feet below, as near as I could figure (I'm not good at math). On the other side, the mountain sloped in tiers, covered in green forest, so that the whole thing reminded me of a colossal sphinx, worn down over the millennia, with a massive white head and chest, and a green cloak over its back.  
  
“The Rock of Gibraltar,” Annabeth said in awe. “At the tip of Spain. And over there-” She pointed south, to a more distant stretch of red and ochre hills. “That must be Africa. We’re at the mouth of the Mediterranean.”  
  
Jason's sweater was warm, but I shivered. Despite the wide stretch of sea in front of them, I felt like I was standing at an impassable barrier. Once in the Mediterranean - the Mare Nostrum - we would be in the ancient lands. If the legends were true, our quest would become a dozen times more dangerous.  
  
“What now?” Piper asked. “Do we just sail in?”  
  
“Why not?” Leo said. “It’s a big shipping channel. Boats go in and out all the time.”  
  
 _Not triremes full of demigods_ , I thought.  
  
Annabeth gazed at the Rock of Gibraltar. I recognized that brooding expression on my best friend’s face. It almost always meant that she anticipated trouble.  
  
“In the old days,” Annabeth said, “they called this area the pillars of Hercules. The Rock was supposed to be one pillar. The other was one of the African mountains. Nobody is sure which one.”  
  
“Hercules, huh?” Percy frowned. “That guy was like the Starbucks of Ancient Greece. Everywhere you turn - there he is.”  
  
A thunderous boom shook the Argo II, though I wasn’t sure where it came from this time. I didn’t see any other ships, the skies were clear, and it wasn't my own powers.  
  
Piper frowned. “So…these Pillars of Hercules. Are they dangerous?”  
  
Annabeth stayed focused on the white cliffs, as if waiting for the Mark of Athena to blaze to life. “For Greeks, the pillars marked the end of the known world. The Romans said the pillars were inscribed with a Latin warning-”  
  
“ _Non plus ultra_ ,” Percy and I both said.  
  
Annabeth looked stunned. “Yeah. _Nothing Further Beyond_. How did you know?”

"You literally told me about them once," I deadpanned, but then I frowned. "Wait, Perce, you weren't there for that. You were walking Mrs. O'Leary. How _did_ you know?"  
  
My twin pointed behind me. “Because I’m looking at it.”  
  
I turned. Directly ahead of us, in the middle of the straits, an island had shimmered into existence. I was positive no island had been there before. It was a small hilly mass of land, covered in forests and ringed with white beaches. Not very impressive compared to Gibraltar, but in front of the island, jutting from waves about a hundred yards offshore, were two white Grecian columns as tall as the Argo’s masts. Between the columns, huge silver words glittered underwater - maybe an illusion, or maybe inlaid in the sand: _NON PLUS ULTRA_.  
  
“Guys, do I turn around?” Leo asked nervously. “Or...”  
  
No one answered - maybe because, like me, they had noticed the figure standing on the beach. As the ship approached the columns, I saw a dark-haired man in purple robes, his arms crossed, staring intently at their ship as if he were expecting them. I couldn’t tell much else about him from this distance, but judging from his posture, he wasn’t happy.  
  
Frank inhaled sharply. “Could that be-?”  
  
“Hercules,” Jason said. “The most powerful demigod of all time.”  
  
The Argo II was only a few hundred yards from the columns now.  
  
“Need an answer,” Leo said urgently. “I can turn, or we can take off. The stabilizers are working again. But I need to know quick-”  
  
“We have to keep going,” Annabeth said. “I think he’s guarding these straits. If that’s really Hercules, sailing or flying away wouldn’t do any good. He’ll want to talk to us.”  
  
In my gut, I knew Annabeth was right. If we wanted to pass into the Mediterranean, we couldn’t avoid this meeting.  
  
“Won’t Hercules be on our side?” Piper asked hopefully. “I mean.. he’s one of us, right?”  
  
I hesitated. “He was a son of Zeus, yes, but when he died, he became a god. You can never be sure with gods.”  
  
“Great,” Percy responded. “Eight of us against Hercules.”  
  
“And a satyr!” Hedge added. “We can take him.”  
  
“I’ve got a better idea,” Annabeth said. “We send ambassadors ashore. A small group - one or two at most. Try to talk with him.”  
  
“I’ll go,” Jason said. “He’s a son of Zeus. I’m the son of Jupiter. Maybe he’ll be friendly to me.”  
  
“Or maybe he’ll hate you,” Percy suggested. “Half brothers don’t always get along.”

I fake-coughed, throwing out a ' _Triton_ ', to which Percy playfully jabbed me.  
  
Jason rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Mr. Optimism.”  
  
“It’s worth a shot,” Annabeth said. “At least Jason and Hercules have something in common. And we need our best diplomat. Somebody who’s good with words.”  
  
All eyes turned to Piper. I could sense her hesitation, but her slight scowl finally turned determined.  
  
“Fine,” she said. “Just let me change my clothes.”


	62. Chapter 62

**CHRISSIE**

So, apparently Hercules was an asshole.

I'll admit, I had been nervous about the encounter either way. I'd been doing everything I could - _anything_ I could - to feel useful.

By the time Piper and Jason's Iris Messaged us about the plan, I'd sent updates to Mom and Paul, Thalia _and_ Chiron, I'd gone over the map of the Mediterranean three times with Percy, Leo and Annabeth about routes, and I'd polished my blades twice. I even started cleaning my cabin - a sure way to tell something was wrong.

We all kept a look-out for Piper and Jason until they clambered out of the woods behind Hercules and stood in front of him. I couldn't make out the conversation, but when Piper shot a bunch of foods from her new cornucopia, I stood ready. Jason lifted her up and shot the both of them towards our ship, and the moment their feet left the ground, I thrust out my fist, pointing it towards the island. I let out all of my stress - my resentment at Hera for taking my brother, my anger at Hercules for not helping us save everything and everyone including his own sorry ass, my fury at Gaea. The island started trembling. Little waves shook out back into the sea, and Percy held them back for his big moment. Meanwhile, my rage only grew as I wallowed in my own emotions. It wasn't until a tree snapped in half and fell onto the sand with a dull _thud_ that I realized how strong the earthquake had gotten.

In shock, I ceased my powers accidentally, and Hercules's head broke above the mound of goodies. Half a coconut was stuck on his noggin like a war helmet. “Kill!” he bellowed, like he’d had a lot of practice saying it.  
  
Jason touched down on the deck of the Argo II, where Leo had done his part.

The ship’s oars were already in aerial mode. The anchor was up. Jason summoned a gale so strong, it pushed them into the sky, while Percy released all of the water and sent it out ten-foot-tall wave against the shore, knocking Hercules down a second time, in a cascade of seawater and pineapples.  
  
By the time the god regained his feet and started lobbing coconuts at them from far below, the Argo II was already sailing through the clouds above the Mediterranean.

As it turns out, the ancient lands weren't as bad as we'd heard.

It was worse here.  
  
Several times an hour, something attacked the ship. A flock of flesh-eating Stymphalian birds swooped out of the night sky, and Festus torched them. Storm spirits swirled around the mast, and Jason blasted them with lightning. While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere, stampeded over the coach’s enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck.  
  
“What was that for?” the coach demanded.  
  
The sight of the pegasus made me wish Astra were here. I hadn’t seen my friend in days. Blackjack, Tempest and Arion also hadn’t shown themselves. Maybe they didn’t want to venture into the Mediterranean. If so, I couldn’t blame them.  
  
Finally around midnight, after the ninth or tenth aerial attack, Jason turned to me and my twin. “How about you guys get some sleep? I’ll keep blasting stuff out of the sky as long as I can. Then we can go by sea for a while, and you can take point.”

The latter was directed only at Percy. I caught Jason's eye and he sent me a ' _we gotta talk_ ' look.

I pursed my lips, glanced at my brother for his opinion, and nodded. We went belowdecks and entered our respective cabins.

I thought I'd have trouble sleeping, with the storm spirits and the rocking of the boat and everything, but when I lied down in my bed, my eyes closed almost immediately, and for the third night in a row, I dreamt of the Underworld.

I stood on the top of a cliff this time, looking down on the river of fire rushing loudly a hundred feet or so beneath me. I saw much more detail than the last two times, and it gave me a sick feeling in my stomach. I turned around, squinting my eyes shut to stop them from burning.

That saying that you can't feel pain in your dreams? Bullshit. The air that came from the river were stinging like crazy.

I opened my eyes in hopes of blinking out the fumes, but I was in an entirely different part of Tartarus now.

The cabin.

It was bigger up close. Parts of drakon carcasses scattered the field around it, all with a tree planted into the skull. A giant came out of the hut, raised one eyebrow at where I was standing, and started snipping off leaves of varying herbs that grew right outside the hut.

"You should not be here," he said, and I did a double take - partially because he was talking to me, and partially because I'd been deep in thought, my ADHD brain wondering if you could apply the term 'harvest' to herbs and spices or not.

"Neither should you," I realized. "Your mother is sending all of your brethren to the mortal world, yet here you are, tending to a garden."

"Yes, well, I've always been a disappointment. I do not wish to fight your kind, or your gods."

"But..." Something clicked in my brain. "Ares. You were made to oppose the god of war-"

"So I was born without any bloodlust whatsoever. I wished for a peaceful life. My parents made sure to punish me for it."

"And so you are here," I deducted. "But why am I?"

The giant sighed.

"I am not sure."

"Well, what's your guess? You have an idea, do you not?"

"Pray to all the gods that I am wrong, child." He paused. "For now, though, just the one god will solve your upcoming problem."

"What?" I breathed, confused.

"You'll see."

With that, I woke up.


	63. Chapter 63

**CHRISSIE**

As I was sitting up, still confused and drowsy, my door opened.

"Chris?" Jason sounded utterly exhausted.

"Hey." My response was muffled from running a hand over my face in an attempt to rub out the tiredness. I opened my eyes as Jason sat down next to me.

"Percy's up on deck. Leo's still there too," he informed me. I nodded, still unsure of what he'd wanted to talk to me about.

Silence fell. The boat swayed softly, and I could feel the power of the ocean, churning beneath us as we entered nautical mode.

"I've been thinking," Jason finally said. Alarm bells started going off in my head, but he took my hand and intertwined our fingers, so I knew he wasn't about to break up with me or anything like that, which begged the question of what terrible news he was bringing that didn't have anything to do with our relationship - at least not with ending it.

"In New Rome, we have a university." He looked at me, gauging my reaction.

"Yeah, you told me about it. Demigods and their descendants can go there without fear of monsters."

"Exactly." He paused again, looking at me.

"But you've never wanted to go there," I said, frowning. Jason had never been interested in studying - he wanted to do good to the world, not build a career for himself.

"But you want to study someday."

Finally, his intent clicked in my brain.

"You want me to study in New Rome."

"Only if you want to, of course."

"Jason..." I trailed off.

"I _know_ we're not on good terms with the other Romans right now, I just... I want you to have the future you want."

"And that's so sweet of you, babe, but we've got to survive first-"

"That's exactly the problem," he cut me off. "You're always thinking of the current problem, you never look beyond it."

"What?"

"I mean, I love you as you are, but you've got to start thinking about yourself, not just saving the world."

"You love me?"

He paused, and I realized he probably hadn't meant to blurt that out.

"Of course I love you."

I sat there, stunned.

"I mean," he stuttered out, "you don't have to say it back, of course, you shouldn't feel pressured to say-"

I cut off the rest of his sentence by grabbing his face and kissing him.

"Jason Grace, I love you too," I whispered when we broke apart. "And I love that you're concerned about my future. But let's defeat some giants first, yeah?"

"I think I can deal with that." He grinned.

"Good."

The door burst open at that, and before I knew it, Jason was knocked out and I had a sword against my throat.

I inhaled sharply as my boyfriend slumped onto the floor, my heart in my throat.

I realized with a start that the dude tying my hands behind my back wasn't fully human. He had a grey snout, and when he started dragging Jason out by his foot I saw that the guy had a fin on his back.

The other half-dolphin yanked me up and started guiding me up the stairs. I glanced behind me to see that Piper and Hazel were also bound, with the former also gagged.

There were a lot more of the pirates up on deck, and Leo was lying half-conscious to my left. Percy and Annabeth had their weapons drawn, but they were hopelessly outnumbered.

“Excellent!” some guy with a golden mask gloated. From the way he directed his warriors to dump Jason by the crossbows, I deducted he was the leader. Then he examined me, Piper and Hazel like we were Christmas presents, which made the sea beneath us heat up just like my temper did. If this dude was scared of the bubbles around the ship, spitting boiling drips of water on board, he didn't show it.  
  
“The boy is no use to me,” he said. “But we have an understanding with the witch Circe. She will buy the women - either as slaves or trainees, depending on their skill. But not you, lovely Annabeth.”  
  
Annabeth recoiled. “You are not taking me anywhere.”

Percy’s hand crept to his pocket - probably grabbing Riptide.  
  
The golden warrior tutted. “Oh, sadly, Annabeth, you will not be staying with me. I would love that. But you and your friend Percy are spoken for. A certain goddess is paying a high bounty for your capture - alive, if possible, though she didn’t say you had to be unharmed.”  
  
At that moment, Piper caused the disturbance they needed. She wailed so loudly it could be heard through her gag. Then she fainted against the nearest guard, knocking him over. Hazel got the idea and crumpled to the deck, kicking her legs and thrashing like she was having a fit. I groaned loudly, doubling over and focussing on looking ill.  
  
Percy drew Riptide and lashed out. The blade should have gone straight through Chrysaor’s neck, but the golden warrior was unbelievably fast. He dodged and parried as the dolphin warriors backed up, guarding the other captives while giving their captain room to battle. They chattered and squeaked, egging him on, and I got the sinking suspicion the crew was used to this sort of entertainment. They didn’t feel their leader was in any sort of danger.

With a start, I realized my twin was rusty - at least against an adversary like this masked guy.

He feinted and thrust at rhe dude's gut, but he anticipated the move. He knocked Percy’s sword out of his hand again, and Riptide flew into the sea.  
  
Chrysaor laughed easily. He wasn’t even winded. He pressed the tip of his golden sword against Percy’s sternum.“A good try,” said the pirate. “But now you’ll be chained and transported to Gaea’s minions. They are quite eager to spill your blood and wake the goddess.”  
  
Nothing like total failure to generate great ideas.  
  
As Percy stood there, disarmed and outmatched, a plan formed in my head. I locked eyes with my brother, and my eyes flicked between him and the ice chest. We had to take out the crew: a bunch of pirates who had been partially transformed into dolphins for messing with the wrong person. We knew what had happened, because the wrong person in question had threatened to turn us into dolphins too.

Percy didn't even have to nod to show me he understood. He glanced toward the stern, and I saw he needed to suppress a smile. I connected the dots and understood Frank would be standing there.  
  
“Fine!” Percy finally shouted, so loudly that he got everyone’s attention. “Take us away, if our captain will let you.”  
  
Chrysaor turned his golden mask. “What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else.”  
  
Percy raised his hands dramatically. “The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn’t he, Annabeth?”  
  
Annabeth was quick. “Yes!” She nodded enthusiastically. “Mr. D! The great Dionysus!”  
  
A ripple of uneasiness passed through the dolphin-men. One dropped his sword.  
  
“Stand fast!” Chrysaor bellowed. “There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you.”  
  
“You should be scared!” Percy looked at the pirate crew with sympathy. “Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn’t you notice the girls falling into the wine god’s madness?”

I jerked my bound hands upward to elbow both Hazel and Piper, who had stopped the shaking fits. The three of us hammed it up again, trembling and flopping around the deck. The dolphin-men fell over themselves trying to get away from their captives.  
  
“Fakes!” Chrysaor roared. “Shut up, Percy Jackson. Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge.”  
  
“So you admit Dionysus is our director!” Percy said.  
  
“He was,” Chrysaor corrected. “Everyone knows that.”

I moaned loudly, and my twin understood that it was time, gesturing at the golden warrior like he’d just betrayed himself. “You see? We are doomed. If you don’t believe me, let’s check the ice chest!”  
  
Percy stormed over to the magical cooler. No one tried to stop him. He knocked open the lid and rummaged through the ice. It took so long that I realized there was no Diet Coke in there. I closed my eyes and prayed to the god in question, who had once promised me one favor when I'd most need him - a reward for avenging his son.

 _Dionysus, I'm calling in that favor,_ I prayed. _Guide us, so that we can continue our voyage._

I opened my eyes to see Percy's eyes widen. He grabbed the can of soda we needed and brandished it at the dolphin warriors as if spraying them with bug repellent.

“Behold!” Percy shouted. “The god’s chosen beverage. Tremble before the horror of Diet Coke!”  
  
The dolphin-men began to panic. They were on the edge of retreat. I could feel it.  
  
“The god will take your ship,” Percy warned. “He will finish your transformation into dolphins, or make you insane, or transform you into insane dolphins! Your only hope is to swim away now, quickly!”  
  
“Ridiculous!” Chrysaor’s voice turned shrill. He didn’t seem sure where to level his sword - at Percy or his own crew.

“Save yourselves!” Percy warned. “It is too late for us!”  
  
Then he gasped and pointed to the spot where Frank was hiding. “Oh, no! Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!”  
  
For a terrifying moment, nothing happened.  
  
“I said,” Percy repeated, “Frank is turning into a crazy dolphin!”  
  
Frank stumbled out of nowhere, making a big show of grabbing his throat. “Oh, no,” he said, like he was reading from a teleprompter. “I am turning into a crazy dolphin.”

He began to change, his nose elongating into a snout, his skin becoming sleek and gray. He fell to the deck as a dolphin, his tail thumping against the boards.  
  
The pirate crew disbanded in terror, chattering and clicking as they dropped their weapons, forgot the captives, ignored Chrysaor’s orders, and jumped overboard. In the confusion, Annabeth moved quickly to cut the bonds on me, Hazel, Piper, and Coach Hedge.  
  
Within seconds, Chrysaor was alone and surrounded. We had no weapons except for Annabeth’s knife and Hedge’s hooves, but the murderous looks on our faces evidently convinced the golden warrior he was doomed.  
  
He backed to the edge of the rail.  
  
“This isn’t over, Jackson,” Chrysaor growled. “I will have my revenge-”  
  
His words were cut short by Frank, who had changed form again. An eight-hundred-pound grizzly bear can definitely break up a conversation. He sideswiped Chrysaor and raked the golden mask off his helmet. Chrysaor screamed, instantly covering his face with his arms and tumbling into the water. We ran to the rail. Chrysaor had disappeared. Percy obviously thought about chasing him, but I took his wrist - he didn’t know these waters, and he shouldn't confront that guy alone again. He nodded, showing his understanding of my silent message.  
  
“That was brilliant!” Annabeth kissed him and hugged me so tightly I couldn't breathe for a second.  
  
“It was desperate,” Percy corrected. “And we need to get rid of this pirate trireme."  
  
“Burn it?” Annabeth asked.  
  
I looked at the Diet Coke in my twin's hand. “No. I’ve got another idea.”


	64. Chapter 64

**CHRISSIE**

It took us longer than I wanted. As we worked, Percy kept glancing at the sea, obviously waiting for Chrysaor and his pirate dolphins to return, but they didn’t.  
  
Leo got back on his feet, thanks to a little nectar. Piper tended to Jason’s wounds, but he wasn’t as badly hurt as he looked. Mostly he was just ashamed that he’d gotten overpowered again, which I could relate to.

We returned all our own supplies to the proper places and tidied up from the invasion while Coach Hedge had a field day on the enemy ship, breaking everything he could find with his baseball bat.  
  
When he was done, Percy loaded the enemy’s weapons back on the pirate ship. Their storeroom was full of treasure, but I insisted that we touch none of it.  
  
“I can sense about six million dollars’ worth of gold aboard,” Hazel said. “Plus diamonds, rubies-”  
  
“Six m-million?” Frank stammered. “Canadian dollars or American?”  
  
“Leave it,” Percy and I both said. I paused - we had not yes been this in-sync with each other again since his disappearance.

“It’s part of the tribute,” my twin finished after breaking our eye contact.  
  
“Tribute?” Hazel asked.  
  
“Oh.” Piper nodded. “Kansas.”  
  
Jason grinned. He’d been there too when they’d met the wine god. “Crazy. But I like it.”  
  
And so Percy went aboard the pirate ship and opened the flood valves. I asked Leo to drill a few extra holes in the bottom of the hull with his power tools, and Leo was happy to oblige.The crew of the Argo II assembled at the rail and cut the grappling lines. Piper brought out her new horn of plenty and, on our direction, willed it to spew Diet Coke, which came out with the strength of a fire hose, dousing the enemy deck. I'd thought it would take hours, but the ship sank remarkably fast, filling with Diet Coke and seawater.  
  
“Dionysus,” I called, holding up Chrysaor’s golden mask. “Or Bacchus, I guess. You made this victory possible, even if you weren’t here. You answered my prayer, and held your promise. Your enemies trembled at your name... or your Diet Coke, or something. So thank you.”  
  
Percy looked like he wanted to gag over the words, but he said his part. “We give this ship to you as tribute. We hope you like it.”  
  
“Six million in gold,” Leo muttered. “He’d better like it.”  
  
“Shh,” Hazel scolded. “Precious metal isn’t all that great. Believe me.”  
  
I threw the golden mask aboard the vessel, which was now sinking even faster, brown fizzy liquid spewing out the trireme’s oar slots and bubbling from the cargo hold, turning the sea frothy brown.

Percy summoned a wave, and the enemy ship was swamped. Leo steered the Argo II away as the pirate vessel disappeared underwater.  
  
“Isn’t that polluting?” Piper asked.  
  
“I wouldn’t worry,” Jason told her. “If Bacchus likes it, the ship should vanish.”  
  
I didn’t know if that would happen, but I felt like we’d done all we could. I knew Percy had no faith that Dionysus would hear us or care, much less help us in our battle against the twin giants, but I also knew we had to try.  
  
We ended up deciding to fly the rest of the way to Rome. Jason insisted he was well enough to take sentry duty, along with Coach Hedge, who was still so charged with adrenaline that every time the ship hit turbulence, he swung his bat and yelled, “Die!”  
  
We had a couple of hours before daybreak, so Jason suggested Percy try to get a few more hours of sleep.  
  
“It’s fine, man,” Jason said. “Give somebody else a chance to save the ship, huh?”  
  
Percy agreed and headed to his cabin, just like the rest of the crew, excluding me, Jason, Leo and the Coach. The latter two stayed at the helm, where Leo explained some of the Leo-style, extra-ADHD details of steering the ship to the old satyr, just incase.

I sauntered down to the mess hall for coffee for me and Jason, pouring it into mugs we hand-painted for each other as a three-month anniversary gift. Mine was ceramic brown on the bottom and green with white and grey flecks on the top in order to vaguely resemble a potter cactus, since Jason always claimed my obsession with cacti and succulents came from not being able to keep any other plants alive. He was right about that, of course, but it wasn't like I'd ever admit it.

I put a bunch of sugar in his cup - I'd painted the mug to resemble a mostly cloud-free sky with little eagles flying, and I'd written ' _this mug belongs to: Blondie_' on the bottom - and smiled to myself at the memory of the one time we'd accidentally switched cups, where he found out that I like my coffee dark and deep and I almost gagged at how sweet he drinks his.

Once back on deck, I handed him his coffee and we stood in silence, leaning on the railing and warming our hands on the mugs.

"We never got to celebrate our six-months anniversary," I mused. We officially weren't together for a few days after the quest, and since that ended on the winter solstice, we would've been dating for exactly half a year on the day of the Shrimpzilla attack.

It wasn't that big of a deal, in the grand scheme of the world possibly ending very soon, but we'd always liked to celebrate the little things.

A month after the winter solstice, for both acing the two-week extracurricular class Annabeth had volunteered to teach on Underworld river lore from non-Ancient Greek sources? We convinced Chiron to let us take a day off to visit the Museum of Modern Art.

Three month aka quarter of a year anniversary? We found a store that sold ceramic paints and would glaze and bake/set the paint for only two bucks per piece of tableware, so we painted each other custom mugs.

Two weeks before we left, when my mom got a really good review on her research paper for her studies? We baked her a 'blue velvet' cake from scratch, and we even managed to clean the mess we made in the kitchen before she got home.

"Well, if we survive all of this, I'll take you to that cute new cafe your mom was so enthusiastic about. A proper date."

I grinned. "We can drink fancy flavored coffee and eat those cute little mini English cakes."

My boyfriend frowned. "They're called Victoria Sponge cakes, not English cakes."

"Whatever, Blondie."

He grinned and put his arm around me, pressing a kiss to my temple. I smiled big enough for it to scrunch up the bridge of my nose.

And then we saw Rome.


	65. Chapter 65

**PERCY**

A metallic CLANG-CLANG-CLANG jolted me out of my nightmare. My eyes shot open. I realized I’d just heard the landing gear being lowered.

There was a knock on the door, and Chrissie poked her head in, her green eyes glittered with excitement.

“Hey bro,” she said. “We’re descending over Rome. You really should see this.”  
  
The sky was brilliant blue, as if the stormy weather had never happened. The sun rose over the distant hills, so everything below them shone and sparkled like the entire city of Rome had just come out of the car wash. I had seen big cities before. We were from New York, after all. But the sheer vastness of Rome grabbed me by the throat and made it hard to breathe. The city seemed to have no regard for the limits of geography. It spread through hills and valleys, jumped over the Tiber with dozens of bridges, and just kept sprawling to the horizon. Streets and alleys zigzagged with no rhyme or reason through quilts of neighborhoods. Glass office buildings stood next to excavation sites. A cathedral stood next to a line of Roman columns, which stood next to a modern soccer stadium. In some neighborhoods, old stucco villas with red-tiled roofs crowded the cobblestone streets, so that if I concentrated just on those areas, I could imagine I was back in ancient times. Everywhere I looked, there were wide piazzas and traffic-clogged streets. Parks cut across the city with a crazy collection of palm trees, pines, junipers, and olive trees, as if Rome couldn’t decide what part of the world it belonged to - or maybe it just believed all the world still belonged to Rome.

It was as if the city knew about my dream of Gaea. It knew that the earth goddess intended on razing all human civilization, and this city, which had stood for thousands of years, was saying back to her: _You wanna dissolve this city, Dirt Face? Give it a shot._  
  
In other words, it was the Coach Hedge of mortal cities - only taller.  
  
“We’re setting down in that park,” Leo announced, pointing to a wide green space dotted with palm trees. “Let’s hope the Mist makes us look like a large pigeon or something.”

I wished Jason’s sister Thalia were here. She’d always had a way of bending the Mist to make people see what she wanted. Chrissie and I had never been very good at that. My sister at least understood the boundaries of the Mist in ways I never did.

I just kept thinking: _Don’t look at m_ e, and hoped the Romans below would fail to notice the giant bronze trireme descending on their city in the middle of morning rush hour.  
  
It seemed to work. I didn’t notice any cars veering off the road or Romans pointing to the sky and screaming, “Aliens!” The Argo II set down in the grassy field and the oars retracted.  
  
The noise of traffic was all around us, but the park itself was peaceful and deserted. To our left, a green lawn sloped toward a line of woods. An old villa nestled in the shade of some weird-looking pine trees with thin curvy trunks that shot up thirty or forty feet, then sprouted into puffy canopies.

"They're like those tress in the Dr. Seuss books mom used to read us, remember?" I didn't have to point for my twin to understand what I was talking about.  
  
To our right, snaking along the top of a hill, was a long brick wall with notches at the top for archers - maybe a medieval defensive line, maybe Ancient Roman. I wasn’t sure.  
  
To the north, about a mile away through the folds of the city, the top of the Colosseum rose above the rooftops, looking just like it did in travel photos. That’s when my legs started shaking. I was actually here. I’d thought the trip to Alaska had been pretty exotic, but now I was in the heart of the old Roman Empire, enemy territory for a Greek demigod. In a way, this place had shaped my life as much as New York.

Jason pointed to the base of the archers’ wall, where steps led down into some kind of tunnel.  
  
“I think I know where we are,” he said. “That’s the Tomb of the Scipios.”  
  
I frowned. “Scipio... Reyna’s pegasus?”  
  
“No,” Annabeth put in. “They were a noble Roman family, and... wow, this place is amazing.”  
  
Jason nodded. “I’ve studied maps of Rome before. I’ve always wanted to come here, but...”  
  
Nobody bothered finishing that sentence. Looking at my friends’ faces, I could tell they were just as much in awe as I was. We’d made it. We'd landed in Rome- _the_ Rome.

“Plans?” Chrissie asked. “Nico has until sunset - at best. And this entire city is supposedly getting destroyed today.”  
  
I shook myself out of his daze. “You’re right. Annabeth... did you zero in on that spot from your bronze map?”  
  
Her gray eyes turned extra thunderstorm dark, which I could interpret just fine: _Remember what I said, buddy. Keep that dream to yourself._  
  
“Yes,” she said carefully. “It’s on the Tiber River. I think I can find it, but I should-”  
  
“Take me along,” I finished. “Yeah, you’re right.”  
  
Annabeth glared daggers at him. “That’s not-”  
  
“Safe,” Chrissie supplied. “One demigod walking through Rome alone."

I sent her a quick grateful look. "I’ll go with you as far as the Tiber. We can use that letter of introduction, hopefully meet the river god Tiberinus. Maybe he can give you some help or advice. Then you can go on alone from there.”  
  
We had a silent staring contest, but I didn’t back down. When Annabeth and I started dating, our mother had drummed it into my head: _It’s good manners to walk your date to the door._ If that was true, it had to be good manners to walk her to the start of her epic solo death quest.

“Fine,” Annabeth muttered. “Hazel, now that we’re in Rome, do you think you can pinpoint Nico’s location?”  
  
Hazel blinked, as if coming out of a trance from watching us. “Um... hopefully, if I get close enough. I’ll have to walk around the city. Frank, would you come with me?”  
  
Frank beamed. “Absolutely.”  
  
“And, uh... Leo,” Hazel added. “It might be a good idea if you came along too. The fish-centaurs said we’d need your help with something mechanical.”  
  
“Yeah,” Leo said, “no problem.”  
  
Frank’s smile turned into something more like Chrysaor’s mask.  
  
I was no genius when it came to relationships, but even I could feel the tension among those three. Ever since they’d gotten knocked into the Atlantic, they hadn’t acted quite the same. It wasn’t just the two guys competing for Hazel. It was like the three of them were locked together, acting out some kind of murder mystery, but they hadn’t yet discovered which of them was the victim.  
  
Piper drew her knife and set it on the rail. “Chrissie, Jason and I can watch the ship for now. I’ll see what Katoptris can show me. But, Hazel, if you guys get a fix on Nico’s location, don’t go in there by yourselves. Come back and get us. It’ll take all of us to fight the giants.”  
  
She didn’t say the obvious: even all of us together wouldn’t be enough, unless we had a god on their side. I decided not to bring that up.  
  
“Good idea,” Chrissie said. “How about we plan to meet back here at... what?”  
  
“Three this afternoon?” Jason suggested. “That’s probably the latest we could rendezvous and still hope to fight the giants and save Nico. If something happens to change the plan, try to send an Iris-message.”  
  
The others nodded in agreement, but I noticed several of them glancing at Annabeth. Another thing no one wanted to say: Annabeth would be on a different schedule. She might be back at three, or much later, or never. But she would be on her own, searching for the Athena Parthenos.  
  
Coach Hedge grunted. “That’ll give me time to eat the coconuts- I mean dig the coconuts out of our hull. Percy, Annabeth... I don’t like you two going off on your own. Just remember: behave. If I hear about any funny business, I will ground you until the Styx freezes over.”  
  
The idea of getting grounded when they were about to risk their lives was so ridiculous, I couldn’t help smiling.  
  
“We’ll be back soon,” I promised. I looked around at my friends, trying not to feel like this was the last time we’d ever be together. Chrissie and I locked eyes, and I knew she was thinking the same thing, but we came to a silent agreement: _No dramatic emotional moment. No making a scene. Keep morale up._

“Good luck, everyone,” I said.  
  
Leo lowered the gangplank, and Annabeth and I were first off the ship.


	66. Chapter 66

**CHRISSIE**

We tried to make the best of the situation.  
  
Once we'd gotten tired of pacing the deck, listening to Coach Hedge sing “Old MacDonald” (with weapons instead of animals), we decided to have a picnic in the park.  
  
Hedge grudgingly agreed. “Stay where I can see you.”  
  
“What are we, kids?” Jason asked.  
  
Hedge snorted. “Kids are baby goats. They’re cute, and they have redeeming social value. You are definitely not kids.”  
  
We spread our blanket under a willow tree next to a pond. Piper turned over her cornucopia and spilled out an entire meal - neatly wrapped sandwiches, canned drinks, fresh fruit, and a birthday cake with purple icing and candles already lit.  
  
She frowned. “Is it someone’s birthday?”  
  
Jason winced. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”  
  
“Jason!”  
  
“There’s too much going on,” he said. “And honestly... before last month, I didn’t even know when my birthday was. Thalia told me the last time she was at camp.”

I studied my boyfriend's face. He hadn't had the easiest life, even by demigod standards. Jason had been given to Lupa the wolf when he was only two years old. He’d never really known his mortal mom. He’d only been reunited with his sister last winter.

“July First,” I finally said. “The Kalends of July.”  
  
“Yeah.” Jason smirked. “The Romans would find that auspicious - the first day of the month named for Julius Caesar. Juno’s sacred day. Yippee.”  
  
I glanced at Piper, not wanting to push, or make a celebration if he didn’t feel like celebrating. She seemed to agree and did a quick count of the candles.  
  
“Sixteen?” she asked.  
  
Jason nodded. “Oh, boy. I can get my driver’s license.”

I snorted as Piper laughed like a normal person. Jason had killed so many monsters and saved the world so many times that the idea of him sweating a driving test seemed ridiculous. I pictured him behind the wheel of some old Lincoln with a STUDENT DRIVER sign on top and a grumpy teacher in the passenger seat with an emergency brake pedal.  
  
“Well?” Piper urged. “Blow out the candles.”  
  
Jason did. I wondered briefly if he’d made a wish, but decided not to ask.

Since the two of them had left the Pillars of Hercules yesterday evening, Jason had seemed distracted. I couldn’t blame him. From what I'd heard Piper relay, Hercules had been a pretty huge disappointment as a big brother, and the old river god Achelous had apparently said some unflattering things about the sons of Jupiter.

We all fell silent. Piper stared at the cornucopia, obviously deep in thought, so I used her moment of distraction to discreetly shift my hand on the blanket so that my last two fingers rested on Jason's hand, our pinkies half intertwined.

The corners of his lips turned up a little, just for a moment, and then plucked an extinguished candle from his cake. “I’ve been thinking.”

That seemed to snap Piper back to the present.

“About?” she asked.  
  
“Camp Jupiter,” he said. “All the years I trained there. We were always pushing teamwork, working as a unit. I thought I understood what that meant. But honestly? I was always the leader. Even when I was younger-”  
  
“The son of Jupiter,” I caught on said. “Most powerful kid in the legion. You were the star.”

Jason looked uncomfortable, but he didn’t deny it. “Being in this crew of eight... I’m not sure what to do. I’m not used to being one of so many, well, equals. I feel like I’m failing.”  
  
Piper frowned. “You’re not failing.”  
  
“It sure felt that way when Chrysaor attacked,” Jason said. “I’ve spent most of this trip knocked out and helpless.”  
  
“Come on,” I chided. “You remember how much of our first quest together I spent knocked out?Besides, being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed."  
  
“And if I don’t know what’s needed?”  
  
“That’s what your friends are for," Piper said. "We’ve all got different strengths. Together, we’ll figure it out.”  
  
Jason studied her. I hoped he realized she was telling the truth. Piper seemed to have the same worries, but she was obviously glad he could confide in her, which I was also very proud of. Jason had always been a bit closed off, especially about his self-doubt. I was happy to see he was opening up to one of our best friends.

“Hercules was a jerk,” Jason finally said. “I never want to be like that. But I wouldn’t have had the courage to stand up to him without your taking the lead. You were the hero that time.”  
  
“We can take turns,” Piper suggested.

I grinned, but my face fell as I glanced upon the movement behind Jason. Percy was running toward us, and I could tell from his expression that he brought bad news.


	67. Chapter 67

**PIPER**

We gathered on deck so that Coach Hedge could hear the story. When Percy was done, I still couldn’t believe it.

“So Annabeth was kidnapped on a motor scooter,” I summed up, “by Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.”  
  
“Not kidnapped, exactly,” Percy said. “But I’ve got this bad feeling...” He took a deep breath, like he was trying hard not to freak out. “Anyway, she’s- she’s gone. Maybe I shouldn’t have let her, but-”  
  
“You had to,” Chrissie said, though the brown in in her eyes seemed to flash. I realized she was more emotional than she let on - she was keeping it together for her brother's sake, and she seemed to know exactly what to say to her. “You knew she had to go alone. Besides, Annabeth is tough and smart. She’ll be fine.”  
  
His shoulders relaxed a little. “Maybe you’re right. Anyway, Gregory- I mean Tiberinus- said we had less time to rescue Nico than we thought. Hazel and the guys aren’t back yet?”  
  
I checked the time on the helm control. I hadn’t realized how late it was getting. “It’s two in the afternoon. We said three o’clock for a rendezvous.”  
  
“At the latest,” Jason said.  
  
Percy pointed at my dagger. “Tiberinus said you could find Nico’s location... you know, with that.”  
  
I bit my lip. The last thing I wanted to do was check Katoptris for more terrifying images.

“I’ve tried,” I said. “The dagger doesn’t always show what I want to see. In fact, it hardly ever does.”  
  
“Please,” Percy said. “Try again.”  
  
He pleaded with those sea-green eyes, like a cute baby seal that needed help. I wondered how my friends ever won an argument with this guy.  
  
“Fine,” I sighed, and drew my dagger.  
  
“While you’re at it,” said Coach Hedge, “see if you can get the latest baseball scores. Italians don’t cover baseball worth beans.”  
  
“Shh.” I studied the bronze blade. The light shimmered. I saw a loft apartment filled with Roman demigods. A dozen of them stood around a dining table as Octavian talked and pointed to a big map. Reyna paced next to the windows, gazing down at Central Park.  
  
“That’s not good,” Jason muttered. “They’ve already set up a forward base in Manhattan.”  
  
“And that map shows Long Island,” Chrissie said.  
  
“They’re scouting the territory,” Jason guessed. “Discussing invasion routes.”  
  
I did not want to see that. I concentrated harder. Light rippled across the blade. I saw ruins - a few crumbling walls, a single column, a stone floor covered with moss and dead vines - all clustered on a grassy hillside dotted with pine trees.  
  
“I was just there,” Percy said. “That’s in the old Forum.”

The view zoomed in. On one side of the stone floor, a set of stairs had been excavated, leading down to a modern iron gate with a padlock. The blade’s image zoomed straight through the doorway, down a spiral stairwell, and into a dark, cylindrical chamber like the inside of a grain silo.  
  
I dropped the blade.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Jason asked. “It was showing us something.”  
  
I felt like the boat was back on the ocean, rocking under my feet. “We can’t go there.”  
  
Chrissie frowned. “Pipes, Nico is dying. We’ve got to find him. Not to mention, Rome is about to get destroyed.”  
  
My voice wouldn’t work. I’d kept that vision of the circular room to myself for so long, now I found it impossible to talk about. I had a horrible feeling that explaining it to the others wouldn’t change anything. I couldn’t stop what was about to happen.  
  
I picked up the knife again. Its hilt seemed colder than usual.  
  
I forced myself to look at the blade. I saw two giants in gladiator armor sitting on oversized praetors’ chairs. The giants toasted each other with golden goblets as if they’d just won an important fight. Between them stood a large bronze jar.

The vision zoomed in again. Inside the jar, Nico di Angelo was curled in a ball, no longer moving, all the pomegranate seeds eaten.  
  
“We’re too late,” Jason said.  
  
“No,” Chrissie said. “No, I can’t believe that. Maybe he’s gone into a deeper trance to buy time. We have to hurry.”  
  
The blade’s surface went dark. I slipped it back into its sheath, trying to keep my hands from shaking. I hoped that Percy was right and Nico was still alive. On the other hand, I didn’t see how that image connected with the vision of the drowning room. Maybe the giants were toasting each other because the four of us were dead.  
  
“We should wait for the others,” I said. “Hazel, Frank, and Leo should be back soon.”  
  
“We can’t wait,” Percy insisted.  
  
Coach Hedge grunted. “It’s just two giants. If you guys want, I can take them.”  
  
“Uh, Coach,” Jason said, “that’s a great offer, but we need you to man the ship - or goat the ship. Whatever.”  
  
Hedge scowled. “And let you four have all the fun?”  
  
Percy gripped the satyr’s arm. “Hazel and the others need you here. When they get back, they’ll need your leadership. You’re their rock.”  
  
“Yeah.” Jason managed to keep a straight face. “Leo always says you’re his rock. You can tell them where we’ve gone and bring the ship around to meet us at the Forum.”  
  
“And here.” I unstrapped Katoptris and put it in Coach Hedge’s hands.  
  
The satyr’s eyes widened. A demigod was never supposed to leave her weapon behind, but I was fed up with evil visions. I'd rather face my death without any more previews.  
  
“Keep an eye on us with the blade,” I suggested. “And you can check the baseball scores.”  
  
That sealed the deal. Hedge nodded grimly, prepared to do his part for the quest.  
  
“All right,” he said. “But if any giants come this way-”  
  
“Feel free to blast them,” Jason said.  
  
“What about annoying tourists?”  
  
“No,” we all said in unison.  
  
“Bah. Fine. Just don’t take too long, or I’m coming after you with ballistae blazing.”


	68. Chapter 68

**PIPER**

Finding the place was easy. Percy led us right to it, on an abandoned stretch of hillside overlooking the ruined Forum.

Getting in was easy too. Jason’s gold sword cut through the padlock, and the metal gate creaked open. No mortals saw us. No alarms went off. Stone steps spiraled down into the gloom.  
  
“I’ll go first,” Jason said.  
  
“No!” I yelped.  
  
The others turned toward me.  
  
“Pipes, what is it?” Chrissie asked. “That image in the blade... you’ve seen it before, haven’t you?”  
  
I nodded, my eyes stinging. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I saw the room down there filling with water. I saw the four of us drowning.”  
  
They all frowned.  
  
“We can’t drown,” Percy said, though he sounded like he was asking a question.  
  
“Maybe the future has changed,” Jason speculated. “In the image you showed us just now, there wasn’t any water.”

I wished he was right, but I suspected we wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Look,” Percy said. “I’ll check it out first. It’s fine. Be right back.”  
  
Before I could object, he disappeared down the stairwell.  
  
I counted silently as we waited for him to come back. Somewhere around thirty-five, I heard his footsteps, and he appeared at the top, looking more baffled than relieved.

“Good news: no water,” he said. “Bad news: I don’t see any exits down there. And, uh, weird news: well, you should see this...”  
  
We descended cautiously. Percy took the lead, with Riptide drawn. Chrissie followed, with me in the middle and Jason behind me, guarding our backs. The stairwell was a cramped corkscrew of masonry, no more than six feet in diameter. Even though Percy had given the “all clear,” I kept my eyes open for traps. With every turn of the stairs, I anticipated an ambush. I had no weapon, just the cornucopia on a leather cord over her shoulder. If worse came to worst, the boys’ swords wouldn’t do much good in such close quarters, so all we really had were Chrissie's double-sided daggers. Maybe I could shoot any enemies with high-velocity smoked hams.

As we wound our way underground, I saw old graffiti gouged into the stones: Roman numerals, names and phrases in Italian. That meant other people had been down here more recently than the Roman Empire, but I wasn’t reassured. If monsters were below, they’d ignore mortals, waiting for some nice juicy demigods to come along.  
  
Finally, we reached the bottom.  
  
Percy turned. “Watch this last step.”  
  
He jumped to the floor of the cylindrical room, which was five feet lower than the stairwell. Why would someone design a set of stairs like that? I had no idea. Maybe the room and the stairwell had been built during different time periods.  
  
I wanted to turn and exit, but I couldn’t do that with Jason behind her, and I couldn’t just leave Percy down there, or Chrissie, who he was currently helping down. I finally clambered down, and Jason followed.  
  
The room was just like I’d seen it in Katoptris’s blade, except there was no water. The curved walls had once been painted with frescoes, which were now faded to eggshell white with only flecks of color. The domed ceiling was about fifty feet above.

Around the back side of the room, opposite the stairwell, nine alcoves were carved into the wall. Each niche was about five feet off the floor and big enough for a human-sized statue, but each was empty.  
  
The air felt cold and dry. As Percy had said, there were no other exits.  
  
“All right.” Percy raised his eyebrows. “Here’s the weird part. Watch.”  
  
He stepped to the middle of the room.  
  
Instantly, green and blue light rippled across the walls. J heard the sound of a fountain, but there was no water. There didn’t seem to be any source of light except for the others' blades.  
  
“Do you smell the ocean?” Percy asked.  
  
I hadn’t noticed at first. I was standing in between Chrissie and Percy, and he always smelled like the sea. But he was right. The scent of salt water and storm was getting stronger, like a summer hurricane approaching.  
  
“An illusion?” I asked. All of a sudden, I felt strangely thirsty.

“I don’t know,” Percy said. “I feel like there should be water here - lots of water. But there isn’t any. I’ve never been in a place like this.”  
  
Jason moved to the row of niches. He touched the bottom shelf of the nearest one, which was just at his eye level. “This stone... it’s embedded with seashells. This is a nymphaeum.”  
  
My mouth was definitely getting drier. “A what?”  
  
“We have one at Camp Jupiter,” Jason said, “on Temple Hill. It’s a shrine to the nymphs.”  
  
I ran my hand along the bottom of another niche. Jason was right. The alcove was studded with cowries, conches, and scallops. The seashells seemed to dance in the watery light. They were ice-cold to the touch.  
  
I had always thought of nymphs as friendly spirits - silly and flirtatious, generally harmless. They got along well with the children of Aphrodite. They loved to share gossip and beauty tips. This place, though, didn’t feel like the canoe lake back at Camp Half-Blood, or the streams in the woods where I normally met nymphs. This place felt unnatural, hostile, and very dry.  
  
Jason stepped back and examined the row of alcoves. “Shrines like this were all over the place in Ancient Rome. Rich people had them outside their villas to honor nymphs, to make sure the local water was always fresh. Some shrines were built around natural springs, but most were man-made.”

“So... no actual nymphs lived here?” I asked hopefully.  
  
“Not sure,” Jason said. “This place where we’re standing would have been a pool with a fountain. A lot of times, if the nymphaeum belonged to a demigod, he or she would invite nymphs to live there. If the spirits took up residence, that was considered good luck.”  
  
“For the owner,” Chrissie guessed. “But it would also bind the nymphs to the new water source, which would be great if the fountain was in a nice sunny park with fresh water pumped in through the aqueducts-”  
  
“But this place has been underground for centuries,” I guessed. “Dry and buried. What would happen to the nymphs?”  
  
The sound of water changed to a chorus of hissing, like ghostly snakes. The rippling light shifted from sea blue and green to purple and sickly lime. Above us, the nine niches glowed. They were no longer empty.  
  
Standing in each was a withered old woman, so dried up and brittle they reminded me of mummies - except mummies didn’t normally move. Their eyes were dark purple, as if the clear blue water of their life source had condensed and thickened inside them. Their fine silk dresses were now tattered and faded. Their hair had once been piled in curls, arranged with jewels in the style of Roman noblewomen, but now their locks were disheveled and dry as straw. If water cannibals actually existed, I thought, this is what they looked like.

“What would happen to the nymphs?” said the creature in the center niche.  
  
She was in even worse shape than the others. Her back was hunched like the handle of a pitcher. Her skeletal hands had only the thinnest papery layer of skin. On her head, a battered wreath of golden laurels glinted in her roadkill hair.  
  
She fixed her purple eyes on me. “What an interesting question, my dear. Perhaps the nymphs would still be here, suffering, waiting for revenge.”  
  
The next time that she got a chance, I swore I would melt down Katoptris and sell it for scrap metal. The stupid knife never showed me the whole story. Sure, I’d seen myself drowning. But if I’d realized that nine desiccated zombie nymphs would be waiting for us, I never would’ve come down here.  
  
I considered bolting for the stairs, but when I turned, the doorway had disappeared. Naturally. Nothing was there now but a blank wall. I suspected it wasn’t just an illusion. Besides, I would never make it to the opposite side of the room before the zombie nymphs could jump on us.  
  
Jason and Chrissie stood to either side of me, and Percy next to her, all of them with their weapons ready. I was glad to have them close, but I suspected their weapons wouldn’t do any good. I’d seen what would happen in this room. Somehow, these things were going to defeat us.  
  
“Who are you?” Chrissie demanded.  
  
The central nymph turned her head. “Ah... names. We once had names. I was Hagno, the first of the nine!”  
  
I thought it was a cruel joke that a hag like her would be named Hagno, but I decided not to say that.  
  
“The nine,” Jason repeated. “The nymphs of this shrine. There were always nine niches.”  
  
“Of course.” Hagno bared her teeth in a vicious smile. “But we are the original nine, Jason Grace, the ones who attended the birth of your father.”  
  
Jason’s sword dipped. “You mean Jupiter? You were there when he was born?”  
  
“Zeus, we called him then,” Hagno said. “Such a squealing whelp. We attended Rhea in her labor. When the baby arrived, we hid him so that his father, Kronos, would not eat him. Ah, he had lungs, that baby! It was all we could do to drown out the noise so Kronos could not find him. When Zeus grew up, we were promised eternal honors. But that was in the old country, in Greece.”  
  
The other nymphs wailed and clawed at their niches. They seemed to be trapped in them, I realized, as if their feet were glued to the stone along with the decorative seashells.  
  
“When Rome rose to power, we were invited here,” Hagno said. “A son of Jupiter tempted us with favors. A new home, he promised. Bigger and better! No down payment, an excellent neighborhood. Rome will last forever.”  
  
“Forever,” the others hissed.  
  
“We gave in to temptation,” Hagno said. “We left our simple wells and springs on Mount Lycaeus and moved here. For centuries, our lives were wonderful! Parties, sacrifices in our honor, new dresses and jewelry every week. All the demigods of Rome flirted with us and honored us.”  
  
The nymphs wailed and sighed.  
  
“But Rome did not last,” Hagno snarled. “The aqueducts were diverted. Our master’s villa was abandoned and torn down. We were forgotten, buried under the earth, but we could not leave. Our life sources were bound to this place. Our old master never saw fit to release us. For centuries, we have withered here in the darkness, thirsty... so thirsty.”  
  
The others clawed at their mouths.  
  
I felt my own throat closing up.  
  
“I’m sorry for you,” I said, trying to use charmspeak. “That must have been terrible. But we are not your enemies. If we can help you-”  
  
“Oh, such a sweet voice!” Hagno cried. “Such beautiful features. I was once young like you. My voice was as soothing as a mountain stream. But do you know what happens to a nymph’s mind when she is trapped in the dark, with nothing to feed on but hatred, nothing to drink but thoughts of violence? Yes, my dear. You can help us.”  
  
Percy raised his hand. “Uh... we're Poseidon's offspring. I have power of water. Maybe I can summon a new source.”  
  
“Ha!” Hagno cried, and the other eight echoed, “Ha! Ha!”  
  
“Indeed, son of Poseidon,” Hagno said. “I know your father well. Ephialtes and Otis promised you would come.”  
  
I put my hand on Chrissie's arm for balance.

“The giants,” I said. “You’re working for them?”  
  
“They are our neighbors.” Hagno smiled. “Their chambers lie beyond this place, where the aqueduct’s water was diverted for the games. Once we have dealt with you... once you have helped us... the twins have promised we will never suffer again.”  
  
Hagno turned to Jason. “You, child of Jupiter - for the horrible betrayal of your predecessor who brought us here, you shall pay. I know the sky god’s powers. I raised him as a baby! Once, we nymphs controlled the rain above our wells and springs. When I am done with you, we will have that power again. And Christina and Perseus Jackson, children of the sea god... from you, we will take water, an endless supply of water.”  
  
“Endless?” Percy’s eyes darted from one nymph to the other. “Uh... look, I don’t know about endless. But maybe I could spare a few gallons.”

“And you, Piper McLean.” Hagno’s purple eyes glistened. “So young, so lovely, so gifted with your sweet voice. From you, we will reclaim our beauty. We have saved our last life force for this day. We are very thirsty. From you three, we shall drink!”  
  
All nine niches glowed. The nymphs disappeared, and water poured from their alcoves - sickly dark water, like oil.


	69. Chapter 69

**PIPER**

I needed a miracle, not a bedtime story. But right then, standing in shock as black water poured in around my legs, I recalled the legend Achelous had mentioned - the story of the flood.  
  
Not the Noah story, but the Cherokee version that my father used to tell me, with the dancing ghosts and the skeleton dog.

When I was little, I would cuddle next to my dad in his big recliner. I’d gaze out the windows at the Malibu coastline, and my dad would tell me the story he’d heard from Grandpa Tom back on the rez in Oklahoma.  
  
“This man had a dog,” my father always began.  
  
“You can’t start a story that way!” I protested. “You have to say Once upon a time.”  
  
Dad laughed. “But this is a Cherokee story. They are pretty straightforward. So, anyway, this man had a dog. Every day the man took his dog to the edge of the lake to get water, and the dog would bark furiously at the lake, like he was mad at it.”  
  
“Was he?”  
  
“Be patient, sweetheart. Finally the man got very annoyed with his dog for barking so much, and he scolded it. ‘Bad dog! Stop barking at the water. It’s only water!’ To his surprise, the dog looked right at him and began to talk.”  
  
“Our dog can say Thank you,” I volunteered. “And she can bark Out.”

“Sort of,” my dad agreed. “But this dog spoke entire sentences. The dog said, ‘One day soon, the storms will come. The waters will rise, and everyone will drown. You can save yourself and your family by building a raft, but first you will need to sacrifice me. You must throw me into the water.’”  
  
“That’s terrible!” I said. “I would never drown my dog!”  
  
“The man probably said the same thing. He thought the dog was lying - I mean, once he got over the shock that his dog could talk. When he protested, the dog said, ‘If you don’t believe me, look at the scruff of my neck. I am already dead.’”  
  
“That’s sad! Why are you telling me this?”  
  
“Because you asked me to,” her dad reminded her. And indeed, something about the story fascinated me. I had heard it dozens of times, but I kept thinking about it.  
  
“Anyway,” said her dad, “the man grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck and saw that its skin and fur were already coming apart. Underneath was nothing but bones. The dog was a skeleton dog.”  
  
“Gross.”  
  
“I agree. So with tears in his eyes, the man said good-bye to his annoying skeleton dog and tossed it into the water, where it promptly sank. The man built a raft, and when the flood came, he and his family survived.”  
  
“Without the dog.”  
  
“Yes. Without the dog. When the rains subsided, and the raft landed, the man and his family were the only ones alive. The man heard sounds from the other side of a hill - like thousands of people laughing and dancing - but when he raced to the top, alas, down below he saw nothing except bones littering the ground - thousands of skeletons of all the people who had died in the flood. He realized the ghosts of the dead had been dancing. That was the sound he heard.”  
  
I waited. “And?”  
  
“And, nothing. The end.”  
  
“You can’t end it that way! Why were the ghosts dancing?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Dad said. “Your grandfather never felt the need to explain. Maybe the ghosts were happy that one family had survived. Maybe they were enjoying the afterlife. They’re ghosts. Who can say?”

Iwas very unsatisfied with that. I had so many unanswered questions. Did the family ever find another dog? Obviously not all dogs drowned, because I myself had a dog.

I couldn’t shake the story. I never looked at dogs the same way, wondering if one of them might be a skeleton dog. And I didn’t understand why the family had to sacrifice their dog to survive. Sacrificing yourself to save your family seemed like a noble thing - a very doglike thing to do.  
  
Now, in the nymphaeum in Rome, as the dark water rose to my waist, I wondered why the river god Achelous had mentioned that story.  
  
I wished I had a raft, but I feared I was more like the skeleton dog. I was already dead.  
  
The basin filled with alarming speed. The four of us pounded on the walls, looking for an exit, but we found nothing. We climbed into the alcoves to gain some height, but with water pouring out of each niche, it was like trying to balance at the edge of a waterfall. Even as I stood in a niche, the water was soon up to my knees. From the floor, it was probably eight feet deep and rising fast.  
  
“I could try lightning,” Jason said. “Maybe blast a hole in the roof?”

“That could bring down the whole room and crush us,” Chrissie said.  
  
“Or electrocute us,” Percy added.  
  
“Not many choices,” Jason said.  
  
“Let us search the bottom,” Percy said. “If this place was built as a fountain, there has to be a way to drain the thing. You guys, check the niches for secret exits. Maybe the seashells are knobs, or something.” It was a desperate idea, but I was glad for something to do.  
  
The twins jumped in the water. Jason and I climbed from niche to niche, kicking and pounding, wiggling seashells embedded in the stone; but we had no luck.  
  
Sooner than expected, the Percy and Chrissie broke the surface, gasping and flailing. Jason and I offered them both a hand, and Chrissie almost pulled me in before I could help her up.  
  
“Couldn’t breathe,” Percy choked. “The water... not normal. Hardly made it back.”  
  
The life force of the nymphs, I thought. It was so poisoned and malicious, even a child of the sea god couldn’t control it.  
  
As the water rose around me, I felt it affecting me too. My leg muscles trembled like I’d been running for miles. My hands turned wrinkled and dry, despite being in the middle of a fountain. I looked into Chrissie's eyes, startled from how little colour they seemed to have.

The boys moved sluggishly. Jason’s face was pale. He seemed to be having trouble holding his sword. Percy was drenched and shivering. His hair didn’t look quite so dark, as if the pigment was leaching out.  
  
“They’re taking our power,” I said. “Draining us.”  
  
“Jason,” Percy coughed, “do the lightning.”  
  
Jason raised his sword. The room rumbled, but no lightning appeared. The roof didn’t break. Instead, a miniature rainstorm formed at the top of the chamber. Rain poured down, filling the fountain even faster, but it wasn’t normal rain. The stuff was just as dark as the water in the pool. Every drop stung my skin.  
  
“Not what I wanted,” Jason said.  
  
The water was up to our necks now. I could feel my strength fading. Grandpa Tom’s story about the water cannibals was true. Bad nymphs would steal my life.  
  
“We’ll survive,” I murmured to myself, but I couldn’t charmspeak my way out of this. Soon the poisonous water would be over our heads. We’d have to swim, and this stuff was already paralyzing us.  
  
We would drown, just like in the visions I’d seen.

Percy started pushing the water away with the back of his hand, like he was shooing a bad dog. “Can’t- can’t control it!”  
  
 _You will need to sacrifice me,_ the skeleton dog had said in the story. _You must throw me into the water._  
  
I felt like someone had grabbed the scruff of my neck and exposed the bones. I clutched my cornucopia.  
  
“We can’t fight this,” I said. “If we hold back, that just makes us weaker.”  
  
“What do you mean?” Jason shouted over the rain.  
  
The water was up to our chins. Another few inches, and we’d have to swim. But the water wasn’t halfway to the ceiling yet. I hoped that meant that we still had time.  
  
“The horn of plenty,” I said. “We have to overwhelm the nymphs with fresh water, give them more than they can use. If we can dilute this poisonous stuff-”  
  
“Can your horn do that?” Percy struggled to keep his head above water, which was obviously a new experience for him. He looked scared out of his mind.

“Only with your help.” I was beginning to understand how the horn worked. The good stuff it produced didn’t come from nowhere. I’d only been able to bury Hercules in groceries when I had concentrated on all my positive experiences with my friends.  
  
To create enough clean fresh water to fill this room, I needed to go even deeper, tap my emotions even more. Unfortunately, I was losing my ability to focus.  
  
“I need you both to channel everything you’ve got into the cornucopia,” I said. “Chrissie, Percy, think about the sea.”  
  
“Salt water?”  
  
“Doesn’t matter! As long as it’s clean. Jason, think about rainstorms - much more rain. All of you hold the cornucopia.”  
  
We huddled together as the water lifted us off our ledges. I tried to remember the safety lessons my dad had given me when we had started surfing. To help someone who’s drowning, you put your arm around them from behind and kick your legs in front of you, moving backward like you’re doing the backstroke. I wasn’t sure if the same strategy could work with more people, but I put one arm around each boy, each of them in turn with one arm around Chrissie, and I tried to keep us all afloat as the others held the cornucopia between them.  
  
Nothing happened. The rain came down in sheets, still dark and acidic.  
  
My legs felt like lead. The rising water swirled, threatening to pull her under. I could feel my strength fading.  
  
“No good!” Jason yelled, spitting water.  
  
“We’re getting nowhere,” Percy agreed.  
  
“You have to work together,” I cried, hoping I was right. “All of you think of clean water - a storm of water. Don’t hold anything back. Picture all your power, all your strength leaving you.”  
  
“That’s not hard!” Percy said.

“But force it out!” I said. “Offer up everything, like- like you’re already dead, and your only goal is to help the nymphs. It’s got to be a gift... a sacrifice.”  
  
They got quiet at that word.  
  
“Let’s try again,” Chrissie said. “Together.”  
  
This time I bent all my concentration toward the horn of plenty as well. The nymphs wanted my youth, my life, my voice? _Fine_. I gave it up willingly and imagined all of my power flooding out of my.  
  
 _I’m already dead,_ I told myself, as calm as the skeleton dog. _This is the only way._

Clear water blasted from the horn with such force, it pushed us against the wall. The rain changed to a white torrent, so clean and cold, it made me gasp.  
  
“It’s working!” Jason cried.  
  
“Too well,” Percy said. “We’re filling the room even faster!”  
  
He was right. The water rose so quickly, the roof was now only a few feet away. I could’ve reached up and touched the miniature rain clouds.  
  
“Don’t stop!” I said. “We have to dilute the poison until the nymphs are cleansed.”

“What if they can’t be cleansed?” Jason asked. “They’ve been down here turning evil for thousands of years.”  
  
“Just don’t hold back,” I said. “Give everything. Even if we go under-”  
  
My head hit the ceiling. The rainclouds dissipated and melted into the water. The horn of plenty kept blasting out a clean torrent.  
  
I pulled everyone closer to me.

“I love you all,” I said, and then held my breath. The current roared in my ears. Bubbles swirled around me. Light still rippled through the room, and I was surprised I could see it. Was the water getting clearer?

Her lungs were about to burst, but I poured my last energy into the cornucopia. Water continued to stream out, though there was no room for more. Would the walls crack under the pressure?  
  
My vision went dark.  
  
I thought the roar in my ears was my own dying heartbeat. Then I realized the room was shaking. The water swirled faster. I felt myself sinking.  
  
With my last strength, I kicked upward. My head broke the surface and I gasped for breath. The cornucopia stopped. The water was draining almost as fast as it had filled the room.  
  
With a cry of alarm, I realized that the others' faces were still underwater. I hoisted them up. Instantly, the twins gulped and began to thrash, but Jason was as lifeless as a rag doll.  
  
Chrissie clung to him, seemingly on instinct, until she caught her breath. When she realized what was going on, she started yelling his name, and I don't think she even noticed when all the water drained away and left us on the damp floor.

Without looking up, she seemed to know when Percy up and functioning again.

"Percy!" A crack appeared in the floor right underneath her, going all the way up the wall, exactly in sync with the desperate cracking of Chrissies voice.  
  
Her twin was quick to kneel next to her. Her Jason’s forehead. Water gushed from Jason’s mouth. His eyes flew open, and a clap of thunder threw the three of us backward.  
  
When my vision cleared, I saw Jason sitting up, still gasping, but the color was coming back to his face.  
  
“Sorry,” he coughed. “Didn’t mean to-”  
  
Chrissie tackled him with a hug.  
  
Percy grinned. “In case you’re wondering, that was clean water in your lungs. I could make it come out with no problem.”  
  
“Thanks, man.” Jason clasped his hand weakly. “But I think Piper’s the real hero. She saved us all.”  
  
 _Yes, she did,_ a voice echoed through the chamber.  
  
The niches glowed. Nine figures appeared, but they were no longer withered creatures. They were young, beautiful nymphs in shimmering blue gowns, their glossy black curls pinned up with silver and gold brooches. Their eyes were gentle shades of blue and green.  
  
As I watched, eight of the nymphs dissolved into vapor and floated upward. Only the nymph in the center remained.  
  
“Hagno?” I asked.  
  
The nymph smiled. “Yes, my dear. I didn’t think such selflessness existed in mortals... especially in demigods. No offense.”  
  
Percy got to his feet. “How could we take offense? You just tried to drown us and suck out our lives.”

Hagno winced. “Sorry about that. I was not myself. But you have reminded me of the sun and the rain and the streams in the meadows. Children of three, thanks to you, I remembered the sea and the sky. I am cleansed. But mostly, thanks to Piper. She shared something even better than clear running water.” Hagno turned to me. “You have a good nature, Piper. And I’m a nature spirit. I know what I’m talking about.”  
  
Hagno pointed to the other side of the room. The stairs to the surface reappeared. Directly underneath, a circular opening shimmered into existence, like a sewer pipe, just big enough to crawl through. I suspected this was how the water had drained out.  
  
“You may return to the surface,” Hagno said. “Or, if you insist, you may follow the waterway to the giants. But choose quickly, because both doors will fade soon after I am gone. That pipe connects to the old aqueduct line, which feeds both this nymphaeum and the hypogeum that the giants call home.”  
  
“Ugh.” Percy pressed on his temples. “Please, no more complicated words.”  
  
“Oh, home is not a complicated word.” Hagno sounded completely sincere. “I thought it was, but now you have unbound us from this place. My sisters have gone to seek new homes... a mountain stream, perhaps, or a lake in a meadow. I will follow them. I cannot wait to see the forests and grasslands again, and the clear running water.”  
  
“Uh,” Percy said nervously, “things have changed up above in the last few thousand years.”  
  
“Nonsense,” Hagno said. “How bad could it be? Pan would not allow nature to become tainted. I can’t wait to see him, in fact.”

Percy looked like he wanted to say something, but Chrissie put a hand on his arm.  
  
“Good luck, Hagno,” I said. “And thank you.”  
  
The nymph smiled one last time and vaporized.  
  
Briefly, the nymphaeum glowed with a softer light, like a full moon. I smelled exotic spices and blooming roses. I heard distant music and happy voices talking and laughing. I guessed I was hearing hundreds of years of parties and celebrations that had been held at this shrine in ancient times, as if the memories had been freed along with the spirits.  
  
“What is that?” Chrissie asked nervously.  
  
I slipped my hand into hers, and the other's into Jason's. “The ghosts are dancing. Come on. We’d better go meet the giants.”


	70. Chapter 70

CHRISSIE

I was tired of water.  
  
If I'd said that aloud, I would probably get kicked out of Poseidon’s Junior Sea Scouts, but I didn’t care.  
  
After barely surviving the nymphaeum, I wanted to go back to the surface. I wanted to be dry and sit in the warm sunshine for a long time - preferably with my brother, boyfriend and friends.

Unfortunately, we didn’t know where Annabeth was. Frank, Hazel, and Leo were missing in action. I still had to save Nico di Angelo, assuming (hoping, praying) he wasn’t already dead. And there was that little matter of the giants destroying Rome, waking Gaea, and taking over the world.  
  
Seriously, these monsters and gods were thousands of years old. Couldn’t they take a few decades off and let us live our lives? Apparently not.  
  
Percy took the lead as we crawled down the drainage pipe. After thirty feet, it opened into a wider tunnel. To our left, somewhere in the distance, I heard rumbling and creaking, like a huge machine needed oiling. I had absolutely no desire to find out what was making that sound, so I figured that must be the way to go.  
  
Several hundred feet later, we reached a turn in the tunnel. Percy held up his hand, signaling me, Jason and Piper to wait. He peeked around the corner.

"What is it?" I whispered, low enough that no monster or giant could've picked up on it - just my twin. Instead of answering verbally, he reached behind him, finding my hand on instinct and giving it a small tug towards the opening. I turned around and translated it into a 'this way'-gesture to Jason and Piper, and the three of us inched forward until we were next to my brother.  
  
The corridor opened into a vast room with twenty-foot ceilings and rows of support columns.  
  
The creaking and rumbling came from huge gears and pulley systems that raised and lowered sections of the floor for no apparent reason. Water flowed through open trenches (oh, great, more water), powering waterwheels that turned some of the machines. Other machines were connected to huge hamster wheels with hellhounds inside. I couldn’t help thinking of our hellhound, Mrs. O’Leary, and how much she would hate being trapped inside one of those.

Suspended from the ceiling were cages of live animals - a lion, several zebras, a whole pack of hyenas, and even an eight-headed hydra. Ancient-looking bronze and leather conveyor belts trundled along with stacks of weapons and armor.  
  
Leo would love it here, I thought. The whole room was like one massive, scary, unreliable machine.

We couldn't see the giants, but about twenty feet inside the doorway, a life-size wooden cutout of a gladiator popped up from the floor. It clicked and whirred along a conveyor belt, got hooked on a rope, and ascended through a slot in the roof.  
  
Jason murmured, “What the heck?”  
  
We stepped inside. I scanned the room. There were several thousand things to look at, most of them in motion, but one good aspect of being ADHD demigods was that we were comfortable with chaos. About a hundred yards away, I spotted a raised dais with two empty oversized praetor chairs. Standing between them was a bronze jar big enough to hold a person.  
  
“Look.” I pointed it out to the others.  
  
Piper frowned. “That’s too easy.”  
  
“Of course,” Percy said.  
  
“But we have no choice,” Jason said. “We’ve got to save Nico.”  
  
“Yeah.” Percy and I started across the room, picking our way around conveyor belts and moving platforms.  
  
The hellhounds in the hamster wheels paid them no attention. They were too busy running and panting, their red eyes glowing like headlights. The animals in the other cages gave them bored looks, as if to say, _I’d kill you, but it would take too much energy._  
  
I tried to watch out for traps, but everything here looked like a trap. I remembered how many times we’d almost died in the labyrinth a few years ago and suppressed a shudder.  
  
We jumped over a water trench and ducked under a row of caged wolves. We had made it about halfway to the bronze jar when the ceiling opened over us. A platform lowered. Standing on it like an actor, with one hand raised and his head high, was the purple-haired giant Ephialtes.  
  
Just like Percy had seen in his dreams, the Big F was small by giant standards - about twelve feet tall - but he had tried to make up for it with his loud outfit, wearing a Hawaiian shirt that even Dionysus would’ve found vulgar. It had a garish print made up of dying heroes, horrible tortures, and lions eating slaves in the Colosseum. The giant’s hair was braided with gold and silver coins. He had a ten-foot spear strapped to his back, which wasn’t a good fashion statement with the shirt. He wore bright white jeans and leather sandals on his... well, not feet, but curved snakeheads. The snakes flicked their tongues and writhed as if they didn’t appreciate holding up the weight of a giant.

Ephialtes smiled at us like he was really, really pleased to see us.  
  
“At last!” he bellowed. “So very happy! Honestly, I didn’t think you’d make it past the nymphs, but it’s so much better that you did. Much more entertaining. You’re just in time for the main event!”  
  
Jason and Piper closed ranks with us, Jason on Percy's other side and Piper on mine. Having them there made me feel a little better, and I could tell Percy felt the same. This giant was smaller than a lot of monsters we had faced, but something about him made my skin crawl. Ephialtes’s eyes danced with a crazy light.  
  
“We’re here,” Percy said, which sounded kind of obvious once he had said it. “Let our friend go.”  
  
“Of course!” Ephialtes said. “Though I fear he’s a bit past his expiration date. Otis, where are you?”  
  
A stone’s throw away, the floor opened, and the other giant rose on a platform.  
  
“Otis, finally!” his brother cried with glee. “You’re not dressed the same as me! You’re...” Ephialtes’s expression turned to horror - rightfully so. “What are you wearing?”

Otis looked like the world’s largest, grumpiest ballet dancer. He wore a skin-tight baby-blue leotard that I really wished left more to the imagination. The toes of his massive dancing slippers were cut away so that his snakes could protrude. A diamond tiara was nestled in his green, firecracker-braided hair. He looked glum and miserably uncomfortable, but he managed a dancer’s bow, which couldn’t have been easy with snake feet and a huge spear on his back.  
  
“Gods and Titans!” Ephialtes yelled. “It’s showtime! What are you thinking?”

“I didn’t want to wear the gladiator outfit,” Otis complained. “I still think a ballet would be perfect, you know, while Armageddon is going on.” He raised his eyebrows hopefully at the demigods. “I have some extra costumes-”  
  
“No!” Ephialtes snapped, and for once I was in agreement.

The purple-haired giant faced us. He grinned so painfully, he looked like he was being electrocuted.  
  
“Please excuse my brother,” he said. “His stage presence is awful, and he has no sense of style.”

“Okay.” Percy looked like he was trying not to comment on the Hawaiian shirt. “Now, about our friend...”  
  
“Oh, him,” Ephialtes sneered. “We were going to let him finish dying in public, but he has no entertainment value. He’s spent days curled up sleeping. What sort of spectacle is that? Otis, tip over the jar.”  
  
Otis trudged over to the dais, stopping occasionally to do a plié. He knocked over the jar, the lid popped off, and Nico di Angelo spilled out. The sight of his deathly pale face and too-skinny frame made my heart stop. I couldn’t tell whether he was alive or dead. I desperately wanted to rush over and check, but Ephialtes stood in his way.  
  
“Now we have to hurry,” said the Big F. “We should go through your stage directions. The hypogeum is all set!”

I was ready to slice this giant in half and get out of there, but Otis was standing over Nico. If a battle started, Nico was in no condition to defend himself. We needed to buy him some recovery time.  
  
Jason raised his gold gladius. “We’re not going to be part of any show,” he said. “And what’s a hypo- whatever-you-call-it?”  
  
“Hypogeum!” Ephialtes said. “You’re a Roman demigod, aren’t you? You should know! Ah, but I suppose if we do our job right down here in the underworks, you really wouldn’t know the hypogeum exists.”  
  
“I know that word,” Piper said. “It’s the area under a coliseum. It housed all the set pieces and machinery used to create special effects.”

Ephialtes clapped enthusiastically. “Exactly so! Are you a student of the theater, my girl?”  
  
“Uh... my dad’s an actor.”  
  
“Wonderful!” Ephialtes turned toward his brother. “Did you hear that, Otis?”  
  
“Actor,” Otis murmured. “Everybody’s an actor. No one can dance.”  
  
“Be nice!” Ephialtes scolded. “At any rate, my girl, you’re absolutely right, but this hypogeum is much more than the stageworks for a coliseum. You’ve heard that in the old days some giants were imprisoned under the earth, and from time to time they would cause earthquakes when they tried to break free? Well, we’ve done much better! Otis and I have been imprisoned under Rome for eons, but we’ve kept busy building our very own hypogeum. Now we’re ready to create the greatest spectacle Rome has ever seen - and the last!”  
  
At Otis’s feet, Nico shuddered. I felt like a hellhound hamster wheel somewhere in my chest had started moving again. At least Nico was alive. Now we just had to defeat the giants, preferably without destroying the city of Rome, and get out of here to find our friends.  
  
“So!” Percy said, hoping to keep the giants’ attention on him. “Stage directions, you said?”

“Yes!” Ephialtes said. “Now, I know the bounty stipulates that you and the girl Annabeth should be kept alive if possible, but honestly, the girl is already doomed, so I hope you don’t mind if we deviate from that plan, and from plan B too, which would've been you and your twin.”  
  
My mouth tasted like bad nymph water. “Already doomed. You don’t mean she’s-”  
  
“Dead?” the giant asked. “No. Not yet. But don’t worry! We’ve got your other friends locked up, you see.”  
  
Piper made a strangled sound. “Leo? Hazel and Frank?”  
  
“Those are the ones,” Ephialtes agreed. “So we can use them for the sacrifice. We can let the Athena girl die, which will please Her Ladyship. And we can use you three for the show! Gaea will be a bit disappointed, but really, this is a win-win. Your deaths will be much more entertaining.”  
  
Jason snarled. “You want entertaining? I’ll give you entertaining.”  
  
Piper stepped forward. Somehow she managed a sweet smile. “I’ve got a better idea,” she told the giants. “Why don’t you let us go? That would be an incredible twist. Wonderful entertainment value, and it would prove to the world how cool you are.”  
  
Nico stirred. Otis looked down at him. His snaky feet flicked their tongues at Nico’s head.  
  
“Plus!” Piper said quickly. “Plus, we could do some dance moves as we’re escaping. Perhaps a ballet number!”  
  
Otis forgot all about Nico. He lumbered over and wagged his finger at Ephialtes. “You see? That’s what I was telling you! It would be incredible!”  
  
For a second, I thought Piper was going to pull it off. Otis looked at his brother imploringly. Ephialtes tugged at his chin as if considering the idea.  
  
At last he shook his head. “No... no, I’m afraid not. You see, my girl, I am the anti-Dionysus. I have a reputation to uphold. Dionysus thinks he knows parties? He’s wrong! His revels are tame compared to what I can do. That old stunt we pulled, for instance, when we piled up mountains to reach Olympus-”  
  
“I told you that would never work,” Otis muttered.  
  
“And the time my brother covered himself with meat and ran through an obstacle course of drakons-”  
  
“You said Hephaestus-TV would show it during prime time,” Otis said. “No one even saw me.”  
  
“Well, this spectacle will be even better,” Ephialtes promised. “The Romans always wanted bread and circuses - food and entertainment! As we destroy their city, I will offer them both. Behold, a sample!”  
  
Something dropped from the ceiling and landed at Percy’s feet: a loaf of sandwich bread in a white plastic wrapper with red and yellow dots.  
  
Percy picked it up. “Wonder bread?”  
  
“Magnificent, isn’t it?” Ephialtes’s eyes danced with crazy excitement. “You can keep that loaf. I plan on distributing millions to the people of Rome as I obliterate them.”  
  
“Wonder bread is good,” Otis admitted. “Though the Romans should dance for it.”  
  
Percy glanced over at Nico, who was just starting to move. We shot each other a look: he needed to be at least conscious enough to crawl out of the way when the fighting started, and we needed more information from the giants about Annabeth, and where our other friends were being kept. The exchange only took a fraction of a second, and so did my desperate plan.  
  
“Maybe,” I ventured, “you should bring our other friends here. You know, spectacular deaths... the more the merrier, right?”  
  
“Hmm.” Ephialtes fiddled with a button on his Hawaiian shirt. “No. It’s really too late to change the choreography. But never fear. The circuses will be marvelous! Ah... not the modern sort of circus, mind you. That would require clowns, and I hate clowns.”  
  
“Everyone hates clowns,” Otis said. “Even other clowns hate clowns.”  
  
“Exactly,” his brother agreed. “But we have much better entertainment planned! The three of you will die in agony, up above, where all the gods and mortals can watch. But that’s just the opening ceremony! In the old days, games went on for days or weeks. Our spectacle - the destruction of Rome - will go on for one full month until Gaea awakens.”  
  
“Wait,” Jason said. “One month, and Gaea wakes up?”  
  
Ephialtes waved away the question. “Yes, yes. Something about August First being the best date to destroy all humanity. Not important! In her infinite wisdom, the Earth Mother has agreed that Rome can be destroyed first, slowly and spectacularly. It’s only fitting!”  
  
“So...” I couldn’t believe we were talking about the end of the world as my brother held a loaf of Wonder bread in his hand. “You’re Gaea’s warm-up act.”  
  
Ephialtes’s face darkened. “This is no warm-up, demigod! We’ll release wild animals and monsters into the streets. Our special effects department will produce fires and earthquakes. Sinkholes and volcanoes will appear randomly out of nowhere! Ghosts will run rampant.”  
  
“The ghost thing won’t work,” Otis said. “Our focus groups say it won’t pull ratings.”  
  
“Doubters!” Ephialtes said. “This hypogeum can make anything work!”  
  
Ephialtes stormed over to a big table covered with a sheet. He pulled the sheet away, revealing a collection of levers and knobs almost as complicated-looking as Leo’s control panel on the Argo II.  
  
“This button?” Ephialtes said. “This one will eject a dozen rabid wolves into the Forum. And this one will summon automaton gladiators to battle tourists at the Trevi Fountain. This one will cause the Tiber to flood its banks so we can reenact a naval battle right in the Piazza Navona! Perseus and Christina Jackson, you should appreciate that, as the children of Poseidon!”  
  
“Uh... I still think the letting us go idea is better,” Percy said.  
  
“He’s right,” Piper tried again. “Otherwise we get into this whole confrontation thing. We fight you. You fight us. We wreck your plans. You know, we’ve defeated a lot of giants lately. I’d hate for things to get out of control.”  
  
Ephialtes nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right.”

Piper blinked. “I am?”  
  
“We can’t let things get out of control,” the giant agreed. “Everything has to be timed perfectly. But don’t worry. I’ve choreographed your deaths. You’ll love it.”  
  
Nico started to crawl away, groaning. I wanted him to move faster and to groan less. I considered throwing a loaf of Wonder bread at him.  
  
Jason switched his sword hand. “And if we refuse to cooperate with your spectacle?”  
  
“Well, you can’t kill us.” Ephialtes laughed, as if the idea was ridiculous. “You have no gods with you, and that’s the only way you could hope to triumph. So really, it would be much more sensible to die painfully. Sorry, but the show must go on.”  
  
This giant was even worse than that sea god Phorcys Percy fought in Atlanta, I realized. Ephialtes wasn’t so much the anti-Dionysus. He was Dionysus gone crazy on steroids. Sure, Dionysus was the god of revelry and out-of-control parties. But Ephialtes was all about riot and ruin for pleasure.  
  
We looked at our friends.

“I’m getting tired of this guy’s shirt,” Percy said.

"I'm getting tired of all of this guy's shit," I corrected.  
  
“Combat time?” Piper grabbed her horn of plenty.  
  
“I hate Wonder bread,” Jason said.  
  
Together, we charged.


	71. Chapter 71

**PERCY**

Things went wrong immediately.The giants vanished in twin puffs of smoke. They reappeared halfway across the room, each in a different spot. I sprinted toward Ephialtes, but slots in the floor opened under my feet, and metal walls shot up on either side, separating me from the others.  
  
The walls started closing in on me like the sides of a vise grip. I jumped up and grabbed the bottom of the hydra’s cage. I caught a brief glimpse of Chrissie and Piper leaping across a hopscotch pattern of fiery pits, making their way toward Nico, who was dazed and weaponless and being stalked by a pair of leopards.

Meanwhile Jason charged at Otis, who pulled his spear and heaved a great sigh, as if he would much rather dance Swan Lake than kill another demigod.  
  
I registered all this in a split second, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. The hydra snapped at my hands. I swung and dropped, landing in a grove of painted plywood trees that sprang up from nowhere. The trees changed positions as I tried to run through them, so I slashed down the whole forest with Riptide.

“Wonderful!” Ephialtes cried. He stood at his control panel about sixty feet to my left. “We’ll consider this a dress rehearsal. Shall I unleash the hydra onto the Spanish Steps now?”  
  
He pulled a lever, and I glanced behind me. The cage I had just been hanging from was now rising toward a hatch in the ceiling. In three seconds it would be gone. If I attacked the giant, the hydra would ravage the city.

Cursing, I threw Riptide like a boomerang. The sword wasn’t designed for that, but the Celestial bronze blade sliced through the chains suspending the hydra. The cage tumbled sideways. The door broke open, and the monster spilled out - right in front of me.  
  
“Oh, you are a spoilsport, Jackson!” Ephialtes called. “Very well. Battle it here, if you must, but your death won’t be nearly as good without the cheering crowds.”

I stepped forward to confront the monster - then realized he’d just thrown my weapon away. A bit of bad planning on my part.  
  
I rolled to one side as all eight hydra heads spit acid, turning the floor where I’d been standing into a steaming crater of melted stone. I really hated hydras. It was almost a good thing that I’d lost my sword, since my gut instinct would’ve been to slash at the heads, and a hydra simply grew two new ones for each one it lost.  
  
The last time I’d faced a hydra, we'd been saved by a battleship with bronze cannons that blasted the monster to pieces. That strategy couldn’t help me now... or could it?  
  
The hydra lashed out. I ducked behind a giant hamster wheel and scanned the room, looking for the boxes I’d seen in his dream. I remembered something about rocket launchers.

At the dais, Chrissie stood guard over Nico as the leopards advanced. Piper aimed her cornucopia and shot a pot roast over the cats’ heads. It must have smelled pretty good, because the leopards raced after it.  
  
About eighty feet to their right, Jason battled Otis, sword against spear. Otis had lost his diamond tiara and looked angry about it. He probably could have impaled Jason several times, but the giant insisted on doing a pirouette with every attack, which slowed him down.  
  
Meanwhile Ephialtes laughed as he pushed buttons on his control board, cranking the conveyor belts into high gear and opening random animal cages.  
  
The hydra charged around the hamster wheel. I swung behind a column, grabbed a garbage bag full of Wonder bread, and threw it at the monster. The hydra spit acid, which was a mistake. The bag and wrappers dissolved in midair. The Wonder bread absorbed the acid like fire extinguisher foam and splattered against the hydra, covering it in a sticky, steaming layer of high-calorie poisonous goo.

As the monster reeled, shaking its heads and blinking Wonder acid out of its eyes, I looked around desperately. I didn’t see the rocket-launcher boxes, but tucked against the back wall was a strange contraption like an artist’s easel, fitted with rows of missile launchers. I spotted a bazooka, a grenade launcher, a giant Roman candle, and a dozen other wicked-looking weapons. They all seemed to be wired together, pointing in the same direction and connected to a single bronze lever on the side. At the top of the easel, spelled in carnations, were the words: _HAPPY DESTRUCTION, ROME!_  
  
I bolted toward the device. The hydra hissed and charged after me.  
  
“I know!” Ephialtes cried out happily. “We can start with explosions along the Via Labicana! We can’t keep our audience waiting forever.”  
  
I scrambled behind the easel and turned it toward Ephialtes. I didn’t have Leo’s skill with machines, but I knew how to aim a weapon.  
  
The hydra barreled toward me, blocking his view of the giant. I hoped this contraption would have enough firepower to take down two targets at once. I tugged at the lever. It didn’t budge.  
  
All eight hydra heads loomed over me, ready to melt him into a pool of sludge. I tugged the lever again. This time the easel shook and the weapons began to hiss.

“Duck and cover!” I yelled, hoping the others got the message.  
  
I leaped to one side as the easel fired. The sound was like a fiesta in the middle of an exploding gunpowder factory. The hydra vaporized instantly. Unfortunately, the recoil knocked the easel sideways and sent more projectiles shooting all over the room. A chunk of ceiling collapsed and crushed a waterwheel. More cages snapped off their chains, unleashing two zebras and a pack of hyenas. A grenade exploded over Ephialtes’s head, but it only blasted him off his feet. The control board didn’t even look damaged.  
  
Across the room, sandbags rained down around Chrissie, Piper and Nico. The girls tried to pull Nico to safety, but one of the bags caught Piper's shoulder and knocked her down. I watched in horror as Chrissie, her left hand still supporting Nico, reached out her right hand to help up Piper, and a sandbag landed right on top of the end of her wrist, crashing her hand onto the floor and probably crushing multiple bones.  
  
“Chris!” Jason cried. He ran toward the girls, completely forgetting about Otis, who aimed his spear at Jason’s back.  
  
“Look out!” I yelled.  
  
Jason had fast reflexes. As Otis threw, Jason rolled. The point sailed over him and Jason flicked his hand, summoning a gust of wind that changed the spear’s direction. It flew across the room and skewered Ephialtes through his side just as he was getting to his feet.  
  
“Otis!” Ephialtes stumbled away from his control board, clutching the spear as he began to crumble into monster dust. “Will you please stop killing me!”  
  
“Not my fault!”  
  
Otis had barely finished speaking when my missile-launching contraption spit out one last sphere of Roman candle fire. The fiery pink ball of death (naturally it had to be pink) hit the ceiling above Otis and exploded in a beautiful shower of light. Colorful sparks pirouetted gracefully around the giant. Then a ten-foot section of roof collapsed and crushed him flat.  
  
Jason ran to the girls' side.

"Help Pipes," my twin chocked out.

Piper yelped when Jason touched her arm. Her shoulder looked unnaturally bent, but she muttered, “Fine. I’m fine.”

Next to them, Nico sat up, looking around him in bewilderment as if just realizing he’d missed a battle.

Sadly, the giants weren’t finished. Ephialtes was already re-forming, his head and shoulders rising from the mound of dust. He tugged his arms free and glowered at me.  
  
Across the room, the pile of rubble shifted, and Otis busted out. His head was slightly caved in. All the firecrackers in his hair had popped, and his braids were smoking. His leotard was in tatters, which was just about the only way it could’ve looked less attractive on him.  
  
“Percy,” Chrissie yelled, her voice cracking from the pain. “The controls!”  
  
I unfroze. I found Riptide in my pocket again, uncapped my sword, and lunged for the switchboard. I slashed his blade across the top, decapitating the controls in a shower of bronze sparks.  
  
“No!” Ephialtes wailed. “You’ve ruined the spectacle!”  
  
I turned too slowly. Ephialtes swung his spear like a bat and smacked me across the chest. I fell to my knees, the pain turning my stomach to lava I hardly registered Chrissie screaming my name.

Jason ran to my side, but Otis lumbered after him. I managed to rise and found myself shoulder to shoulder with Jason. Over by the dais, the girls was still on the floor, unable to get up. Nico was barely conscious.  
  
The giants were healing, getting stronger by the minute. I was not.  
  
Ephialtes smiled apologetically. “Tired, Percy Jackson? As I said, you cannot kill us. So I guess we’re at an impasse. Oh, wait... no we’re not! Because we can kill you!”  
  
“That,” Otis grumbled, picking up his fallen spear, “is the first thing sensible thing you’ve said all day, brother.”  
  
The giants pointed their weapons, ready to turn me and Jason into a demigod-kabob.  
  
“We won’t give up,” Jason growled. “We’ll cut you into pieces like Jupiter did to Saturn.”  
  
“That’s right,” I said. “You’re both dead. I don’t care if we have a god on our side or not.”  
  
“Well, that’s a shame,” said a new voice.  
  
To my right, another platform lowered from the ceiling. Leaning casually on a pinecone-topped staff was a man in a purple camp shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals with white socks. He raised his broad-brimmed hat, and purple fire flickered in his eyes. “I’d hate to think I made a special trip for nothing.”


	72. Chapter 72

**PERCY**

I had never thought of Mr. D as a calming influence, but suddenly everything got quiet. The machines ground to a halt. The wild animals stopped growling.  
  
The two leopards paced over - still licking their lips from Piper’s pot roast - and butted their heads affectionately against the god’s legs. Mr. D scratched their ears.  
  
“Really, Ephialtes,” he chided. “Killing demigods is one thing. But using leopards for your spectacle? That’s over the line.”  
  
The giant made a squeaking sound. “This- this is impossible. D-D-”  
  
“It’s Bacchus, actually, my old friend,” said the god. “And of course it’s possible. Someone told me there was a party going on.”

He looked the same as he had in Kansas, but I still couldn’t get over the differences between Bacchus and his old not-so-much-of-a-friend Mr. D.  
  
Bacchus was meaner and leaner, with less of a potbelly. He had longer hair, more spring in his step, and a lot more anger in his eyes. He even managed to make a pinecone on a stick look intimidating.  
  
Ephialtes’s spear quivered. “You- you gods are doomed! Be gone, in the name of Gaea!”  
  
“Hmm.” Bacchus sounded unimpressed. He strolled through the ruined props, platforms, and special effects.  
  
“Tacky.” He waved his hand at a painted wooden gladiator, then turned to a machine that looked like an oversized rolling pin studded with knives. “Cheap. Boring. And this...” He inspected the rocket-launching contraption, which was still smoking. “Tacky, cheap, and boring. Honestly, Ephialtes. You have no sense of style.”  
  
“STYLE?” The giant’s face flushed. “I have mountains of style. I define style. I-I-”  
  
“My brother oozes style,” Otis suggested.  
  
“Thank you!” Ephialtes cried.  
  
Bacchus stepped forward, and the giants stumbled back. “Have you two gotten shorter?” asked the god.  
  
“Oh, that’s low,” Ephialtes growled. “I’m quite tall enough to destroy you, Bacchus! You gods, always hiding behind your mortal heroes, trusting the fate of Olympus to the likes of these.”  
  
He sneered at me.  
  
Jason hefted his sword. “Lord Bacchus, are we going to kill these giants or what?”  
  
“Well, I certainly hope so,” Bacchus said. “Please, carry on.”

I stared at him. “Didn’t you come here to help?”  
  
Bacchus shrugged. “Oh, I appreciated the sacrifice at sea. A whole ship full of Diet Coke. Very nice. Although I would’ve preferred Diet Pepsi.”  
  
“And six million in gold and jewels,” I muttered.

“Yes,” Bacchus said, “although with demigod parties of five or more the gratuity is included, so that wasn’t necessary.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Never mind,” Bacchus said. “At any rate, you got my attention. I’m here. Now I need to see if you’re worthy of my help. Go ahead. Battle. If I’m impressed, I’ll jump in for the grand finale.”  
  
“We speared one,” Percy said. “Dropped the roof on the other. What do you consider impressive?”

“Ah, a good question...” Bacchus tapped his thyrsus. Then he smiled in a way that made me think, _Uh-oh_. “Perhaps you need inspiration! The stage hasn’t been properly set. You call this a spectacle, Ephialtes? Let me show you how it’s done.”  
  
The god dissolved into purple mist. Chrissie, Piper and Nico disappeared.  
  
“Chris! Pipes!” Jason yelled. “Bacchus, where did you-?”  
  
The entire floor rumbled and began to rise. The ceiling opened in a series of panels. Sunlight poured in. The air shimmered like a mirage, and I heard the roar of a crowd above him.  
  
The hypogeum ascended through a forest of weathered stone columns, into the middle of a ruined coliseum.

My heart did a somersault. This wasn’t just any coliseum. It was _the_ Colosseum. The giants’ special effects machines had gone into overtime, laying planks across ruined support beams so the arena had a proper floor again. The bleachers repaired themselves until they were gleaming white. A giant red-and-gold canopy extended overhead to provide shade from the afternoon sun. The emperor’s box was draped with silk, flanked by banners and golden eagles. The roar of applause came from thousands of shimmering purple ghosts, the Lares of Rome brought back for an encore performance.  
  
Vents opened in the floor and sprayed sand across the arena. Huge props sprang up - garage-size mountains of plaster, stone columns, and (for some reason) life-size plastic barnyard animals. A small lake appeared to one side. Ditches crisscrossed the arena floor in case anyone was in the mood for trench warfare. Jason and I stood together facing the twin giants.  
  
“This is a proper show!” boomed the voice of Bacchus. He sat in the emperor’s box wearing purple robes and golden laurels. At his left sat Chrissie, Nico and Piper, the latter's shoulder being tended by a nymph in a nurse’s uniform. I couldn't actually see Chrissie's hand, but judging from her expression as another nymph poked at it, she was trying not to scream and cry. At Bacchus’s right crouched a satyr, offering up Doritos and grapes. The god raised a can of Diet Pepsi and the crowd went respectfully quiet.

I glared up at him. “You’re just going to sit there?”

“The demigod is right!” Ephialtes bellowed. “Fight us yourself, coward! Um, without the demigods.”  
  
Bacchus smiled lazily. “Juno says she’s assembled a worthy crew of demigods. Show me. Entertain me, heroes of Olympus. Give me a reason to do more. Being a god has its privileges.”  
  
He popped his soda can top, and the crowd cheered.  
  
I had fought many battles. I’d even fought in a couple of arenas, but nothing like this. In the huge Colosseum, with thousands of cheering ghosts, the god Bacchus staring down at him, and the two twelve-foot giants looming over him, I felt as small and insignificant as a bug. I also felt very angry.  
  
Fighting giants was one thing. Bacchus making it into a game was something else.

I remembered what Luke Castellan had told us years ago, when we had come back from our very first quest: _Didn’t you realize how useless it all is? All the heroics - being pawns of the Olympians?_

We were almost the same age now as Luke had been then. I could understand how Luke became so spiteful. In the past five years, we had been pawns too many times. The Olympians seemed to take turns using me and my twin for their schemes.  
  
Maybe the gods were better than the Titans, or the giants, or Gaea, but that didn’t make them good or wise. It didn’t make me like this stupid arena battle.  
  
Unfortunately, I didn’t have much choice. If I was going to save my friends, I had to beat these giants. I had to survive and find Annabeth.  
  
Ephialtes and Otis made my decision easier by attacking. Together, the giants picked up a fake mountain as big as our New York apartment and hurled it at the two of us.  
  
Jason and I bolted. We dove together into the nearest trench and the mountain shattered above us, spraying us with plaster shrapnel. It wasn’t deadly, but it stung like crazy.

The crowd jeered and shouted for blood. “Fight! Fight!”  
  
“I’ll take Otis again?” Jason called over the noise. “Or do you want him this time?”  
  
I tried to think. Dividing was the natural course - fighting the giants one-on-one, but that hadn’t worked so well last time. It dawned on me that we needed a different strategy.  
  
This whole trip, I had felt responsible for leading and protecting his friends. I was sure Jason felt the same way. We’d worked in small groups, hoping that would be safer. We’d fought as individuals, each demigod doing what they did best. But Hera had made us a team of eight for a reason. The few times Jason and I had worked together - summoning the storm at Fort Sumter, helping the Argo II escape the Pillars of Hercules, even filling the nymphaeum - I had felt more confident, better able to figure out problems, as if I’d been a Cyclops his whole life and suddenly woke up with two eyes.  
  
“We attack together,” I said. “Otis first, because he’s weaker. Take him out quickly and move to Ephialtes. Bronze and gold together - maybe that’ll keep them from re-forming a little longer.”

Jason smiled dryly, like he’d just found out he would die in an embarrassing way.  
  
“Why not?” he agreed. “But Ephialtes isn’t going to stand there and wait while we kill his brother. Unless-”  
  
“Good wind today,” I offered. “And there’re some water pipes running under the arena.”  
  
Jason understood immediately. He laughed, and I felt a spark of friendship. This guy thought the same way I did about a lot of things.  
  
“On three?” Jason said.  
  
“Why wait?”  
  
We charged out of the trench. As I suspected, the twins had lifted another plaster mountain and were waiting for a clear shot. The giants raised it above their heads, preparing to throw, and I caused a water pipe to burst at their feet, shaking the floor. Jason sent a blast of wind against Ephialtes’s chest. The purple-haired giant toppled backward and Otis lost his grip on the mountain, which promptly collapsed on top of his brother. Only Ephialtes’s snake feet stuck out, darting their heads around, as if wondering where the rest of their body had gone.  
  
The crowd roared with approval, but I suspected Ephialtes was only stunned. We had a few seconds at best.  
  
“Hey, Otis!” I shouted. “The Nutcracker bites!”  
  
“Ahhhhh!” Otis snatched up his spear and threw, but he was too angry to aim straight. Jason deflected it over my head and into the lake.  
  
The two of us backed toward the water, shouting insults about ballet - which was kind of a challenge, as I didn’t know much about it.  
  
Otis barreled toward them empty-handed, before apparently realizing that _a)_ he was empty-handed, and _b)_ charging toward a large body of water to fight a son of Poseidon was maybe not a good idea.  
  
Too late, he tried to stop. The demigods rolled to either side, and Jason summoned the wind, using the giant’s own momentum to shove him into the water. As Otis struggled to rise, Jason and I attacked as one. We launched ourselves at the giant and brought our blades down on Otis’s head.  
  
The poor guy didn’t even have a chance to pirouette. He exploded into powder on the lake’s surface like a huge packet of drink mix.  
  
I churned the lake into a whirlpool. Otis’s essence tried to re-form, but as his head appeared from the water, Jason called lightning and blasted him to dust again.  
  
So far so good, but we couldn’t keep Otis down forever. I was already tired from the fight underground. My gut still ached from getting smacked with a spear shaft. I could feel my strength waning, and we still had another giant to deal with.  
  
As if on cue, the plaster mountain exploded behind them. Ephialtes rose, bellowing with anger.  
  
Jason and I waited as he lumbered toward us, his spear in hand. Apparently, getting flattened under a plaster mountain had only energized him. His eyes danced with murderous light. The afternoon sun glinted in his coin-braided hair. Even his snake feet looked angry, baring their fangs and hissing.  
  
Jason called down another lightning strike, but Ephialtes caught it on his spear and deflected the blast, melting a life-size plastic cow. He slammed a stone column out of his way like a stack of building blocks.  
  
I tried to keep the lake churning. He didn’t want Otis rising to join this fight, but as Ephialtes closed the last few feet, I had to switch focus.  
  
Jason and I met the giant’s charge. They lunged around Ephialtes, stabbing and slashing in a blur of gold and bronze, but the giant parried every strike.  
  
“I will not yield!” Ephialtes roared. “You may have ruined my spectacle, but Gaea will still destroy your world!”  
  
U lashed out, slicing the giant’s spear in half. Ephialtes wasn’t even fazed. The giant swept low with the blunt end and knocked me off my feet. I landed hard on my sword arm, and Riptide clattered out of his grip.

Jason tried to take advantage. He stepped inside the giant’s guard and stabbed at his chest, but somehow Ephialtes parried the strike. He sliced the tip of his spear down Jason’s chest, ripping his purple shirt into a vest. Jason stumbled, looking at the thin line of blood down his sternum. Ephialtes kicked him backward.  
  
Up in the emperor’s box, the girls cried out, but their voices were drowned in the roar of the crowd. Bacchus looked on with an amused smile, munching from a bag of Doritos.  
  
Ephialtes towered over me and Jason, both halves of his broken spear poised over their heads. My sword arm was numb. Jason’s gladius had skittered across the arena floor. Our plan had failed.  
  
I glanced up at Bacchus, deciding what final curse I would hurl at the useless wine god, when I saw a shape in the sky above the Colosseum - a large dark oval descending rapidly.  
  
From the lake, Otis yelled, trying to warn his brother, but his half-dissolved face could only manage: “Uh-umh-moooo!”  
  
“Don’t worry, brother!” Ephialtes said, his eyes still fixed on the demigods. “I will make them suffer!”  
  
The Argo II turned in the sky, presenting its port side, and green fire blazed from the ballista.  
  
“Actually,” I said. “Look behind you.”  
  
Jason and I rolled away as Ephialtes turned and bellowed in disbelief.  
  
I dropped into a trench just as the explosion rocked the Colosseum.

When I climbed out again, the Argo II was coming in for a landing. Jason poked his head out from behind his improvised bomb shelter of a plastic horse. Ephialtes lay charred and groaning on the arena floor, the sand around him seared into a halo of glass by the heat of the Greek fire. Otis was floundering in the lake, trying to re-form, but from the arms down he looked like a puddle of burnt oatmeal.  
  
I staggered over to Jason and clapped him on the shoulder. The ghostly crowd gave them a standing ovation as the Argo II extended its landing gear and settled on the arena floor. Leo stood at the helm, Hazel and Frank grinning at his side. Coach Hedge danced around the firing platform, pumping his fist in the air and yelling, “That’s what I’m talking about!”

I turned to the emperor’s box. “Well?” I yelled at Bacchus. “Was that entertaining enough for you, you wine-breathed little-”

“No need for that.” Suddenly the god was standing right next to me in the arena. He brushed Dorito dust off his purple robes. “I have decided you are worthy partners for this combat.”  
  
“Partners?” Jason growled. “You did nothing!”  
  
Bacchus walked to the edge of the lake. The water instantly drained, leaving an Otis-headed pile of mush. Bacchus picked his way to the bottom and looked up at the crowd. He raised his thyrsus.  
  
The crowd jeered and hollered and pointed their thumbs down. I had never been sure whether that meant live or die. I’d heard it both ways.

Bacchus chose the more entertaining option. He smacked Otis’s head with his pinecone staff, and the giant pile of Otismeal disintegrated completely.  
  
The crowd went wild. Bacchus climbed out of the lake and strutted over to Ephialtes, who was still lying spread-eagled, overcooked and smoking.  
  
Again, Bacchus raised his thyrsus.  
  
“DO IT!” the crowd roared.  
  
“DON’T DO IT!” Ephialtes wailed.  
  
Bacchus tapped the giant on the nose, and Ephialtes crumbled to ashes.  
  
The ghosts cheered and threw spectral confetti as Bacchus strode around the stadium with his arms raised triumphantly, exulting in the worship. He grinned at the demigods. “That, my friends, is a show! And of course I did something. I killed two giants!”

As my friends disembarked from the ship, the crowd of ghosts shimmered and disappeared. Chrissie, Piper and Nico struggled down from the emperor’s box as the Colosseum’s magical renovations began to turn into mist. The arena floor remained solid, but otherwise the stadium looked as if it hadn’t hosted a good giant killing for eons.  
  
“Well,” Bacchus said. “That was fun. You have my permission to continue your voyage.”  
  
“Your permission?” Percy snarled.  
  
“Yes.” Bacchus raised an eyebrow. “Although your voyage may be a little harder than you expect, son of Neptune, not even to mention you sisters'.”  
  
“Poseidon,” I corrected him automatically. “What do you mean about our voyages?”  
  
“You might try the parking lot behind the Emmanuel Building,” Bacchus said. “Best place to break through. Now, good-bye, my friends. And, ah, good luck with that other little matter.”

The god vaporized in a cloud of mist that smelled faintly of grape juice. Jason ran to meet the girls and Nico.  
  
Coach Hedge trotted up to Percy, with Hazel, Frank, and Leo close behind. “Was that Dionysus?” Hedge asked. “I love that guy!”  
  
“You’re alive!” I said to the others. “The giants said you were captured. What happened?”  
  
Leo shrugged. “Oh, just another brilliant plan by Leo Valdez. You’d be amazed what you can do with an Archimedes sphere, a girl who can sense stuff underground, and a weasel.”  
  
“I was the weasel,” Frank said glumly.  
  
“Basically,” Leo explained, “I activated a hydraulic screw with the Archimedes device - which is going to be awesome once I install it in the ship, by the way. Hazel sensed the easiest path to drill to the surface. We made a tunnel big enough for a weasel, and Frank climbed up with a simple transmitter that I slapped together. After that, it was just a matter of hacking into Coach Hedge’s favorite satellite channels and telling him to bring the ship around to rescue us. After he got us, finding you was easy, thanks to that godly light show at the Colosseum.”  
  
I understood about ten percent of Leo’s story, but I decided it was enough since I had a more pressing question. “Where’s Annabeth?”

Leo winced. “Yeah, about that... she’s still in trouble, we think. Hurt, broken leg, maybe - at least according to this vision Gaea shown us. Rescuing her is our next stop.”  
  
Two seconds before, I had been ready to collapse. Now another surge of adrenaline coursed through my body. I wanted to strangle Leo and demand why the Argo II hadn’t sailed off to rescue Annabeth first, but I thought that might sound a little ungrateful.  
  
“Tell me about the vision,” I said. “Tell me everything.”  
  
The floor shook. The wooden planks began to disappear, spilling sand into the pits of the hypogeum below.  
  
“Let’s talk on board,” Hazel suggested. “We’d better take off while we still can.”  
  
We sailed out of the Colosseum and veered south over the rooftops of Rome.


	73. Chapter 73

**CHRISSIE**

All around the Piazza del Colosseo, traffic had come to a standstill. A crowd of mortals had gathered, probably wondering about the strange lights and sounds that had come from the ruins. As far as we could see, none of the giants’ spectacular plans for destruction had come off successfully. The city looked the same as before. No one seemed to notice the huge Greek trireme rising into the sky.

We all gathered around the helm. Jason bandaged Piper’s sprained shoulder while Hazel and I sat at the stern, feeding Nico ambrosia. The son of Hades could barely lift his head. His voice was so quiet, we had to lean in whenever he spoke.

After telling us about the horrors he had to encounter, and the information he'd learned along the way, he grasped my hand weakly. He rarely ever allowed physical contact, so the fact that he was the one to initiate the gesture made it all the more clear how much he needed comfort. I squeezed his hand softly, and moved a lock of dirty hair out of his eyes. I vaguely heard Jason and Percy talking for a second before Leo cried out that he'd found the building Bacchus told us about.

“Frank, you’re amazing! I’m setting course.”

Frank hunched his shoulders. “I just read the name off the screen. Some Chinese tourist marked it on Google Maps.”  
  
Leo grinned at the others. “He reads Chinese.”  
  
“Just a tiny bit,” Frank said.  
  
“How cool is that?”  
  
“Guys,” I broke in. “I hate to interrupt your admiration session, but you should hear this.”  
  
Hazel and I helped Nico to his feet. He’d always been pale, but now his skin looked like powdered milk. His dark sunken eyes reminded me of photos I’d seen of liberated prisoners-of-war, which I guessed Nico basically was.  
  
“Thank you,” Nico rasped. His eyes darted nervously around the group. “I’d given up hope.”

I felt Percy's anger, which had been building for the past week or so, fade at the sight of Nico.  
  
“You knew about the two camps all along,” my twin said. “You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter, but you didn’t.”  
  
Nico slumped against the helm. “Percy, I’m sorry. I discovered Camp Jupiter last year. My dad led me there, though I wasn’t sure why. He told me the gods had kept the camps separate for centuries and that I couldn’t tell anyone. The time wasn’t right. But he said it would be important for me to know...” He doubled over in a fit of coughing.  
  
Hazel held his shoulders until he could stand again.  
  
“I- I thought Dad meant because of Hazel,” Nico continued. “I’d need a safe place to take her. But now... I think he wanted me to know about both camps so I’d understand how important your quest was, and so I’d search for the Doors of Death.”  
  
The air turned electric - literally, as Jason started throwing off sparks.  
  
“Did you find the doors?” Percy asked.  
  
Nico nodded. “I was a fool. I thought I could go anywhere in the Underworld, but I walked right into Gaea’s trap. I might as well have tried running from a black hole.”  
  
“Um...” Frank chewed his lip. “What kind of black hole are you talking about?”  
  
Nico started to speak, but he'd already had to relive it once. I put my hand on his shoulder and took over.

“Nico told us that the Doors of Death have two sides - one in the mortal world, one in the Underworld."

Hazel nodded. "The mortal side of the portal is in Greece. It’s heavily guarded by Gaea’s forces. That’s where they brought Nico back into the upper world. Then they transported him to Rome.”  
  
Piper must’ve been nervous, because her cornucopia spit out a cheeseburger. “Where exactly in Greece is this doorway?”  
  
Nico took a rattling breath. “The House of Hades. It’s an underground temple in Epirus. I can mark it on a map, but- but the mortal side of the portal isn’t the problem. In the Underworld, the Doors of Death are in...in...”

I locked eyes with Percy, who understood immediately.

A black hole. An inescapable part of the Underworld where even Nico di Angelo couldn’t go. Hell, we’d been to the very edge of that place. I knew we both still had nightmares about it.  
  
“Tartarus,” Percy deducted. “The deepest part of the Underworld.”  
  
Nico nodded. “They pulled me into the pit, Percy. The things I saw down there...” His voice broke.  
  
Hazel pursed her lips. “No mortal has ever been to Tartarus,” she explained. “At least, no one has ever gone in and returned alive. It’s the maximum-security prison of Hades, where the old Titans and the other enemies of the gods are bound. It’s where all monsters go when they die on the earth. It’s... well, no one knows exactly what it’s like.”  
  
Her eyes drifted to her brother. The rest of her thought didn’t need to be spoken: _No one except Nico._  
  
Hazel handed him his black sword.  
  
Nico leaned on it like it was an old man’s cane. “Now I understand why Hades hasn’t been able to close the doors,” he said. “Even the gods don’t go into Tartarus. Even the god of death, Thanatos himself, wouldn’t go near that place.”  
  
Leo glanced over from the wheel. “So let me guess. We’ll have to go there.”

Nico shook his head. “It’s impossible. I’m the son of Hades, and even I barely survived. Gaea’s forces overwhelmed me instantly. They’re so powerful down there... no demigod would stand a chance. I almost went insane.”  
  
Nico’s eyes looked like shattered glass. I wondered sadly if something inside him had broken permanently.  
  
“Then we’ll sail for Epirus,” Percy said. “We’ll just close the gates on this side.”

“I wish it were that easy,” Nico said. “The doors would have to be controlled on both sides to be closed. It’s like a double seal. Maybe, just maybe, all seven of you working together could defeat Gaea’s forces on the mortal side, at the House of Hades. But unless you had a team fighting simultaneously on the Tartarus side, a team powerful enough to defeat a legion of monsters in their home territory-”  
  
“There has to be a way,” Jason said.  
  
Nobody volunteered any brilliant ideas.  
  
I thought my stomach was sinking. Then I realized the entire ship was descending toward a big building like a palace.  
  
 _Annabeth_. Nico’s news was so horrible I had momentarily forgotten she was still in danger, which made me feel incredibly guilty.

“We’ll figure out the Tartarus problem later,” I said. “Is that the Emmanuel Building?”  
  
Leo nodded. “Bacchus said something about the parking lot in back? Well, there it is. What now?”

“We have to get her out,” Percy said.  
  
“Well, yeah,” Leo agreed. “But, uh...”  
  
He looked like he wanted to say, _What if we’re too late?_  
  
Wisely, he changed tactic. “There’s a parking lot in the way.”  
  
Percy looked at Coach Hedge. “Bacchus said something about breaking through. Coach, you still have ammo for those ballistae?”

The satyr grinned like a wild goat. “I thought you’d never ask.”


	74. Chapter 74

**ANNABETH**

I had seen some strange things before, but I’d never seen it rain cars.  
  
As the roof of the cavern collapsed, sunlight blinded me. I got the briefest glimpse of the Argo II hovering above. It must have used its ballistae to blast a hole straight through the ground.  
  
Chunks of asphalt as big as garage doors tumbled down, along with six or seven Italian cars. One would’ve crushed the Athena Parthenos, but the statue’s glowing aura acted like a force field, and the car bounced off. Unfortunately, it fell straight toward me.  
  
I jumped to one side, twisting my bad foot. A wave of agony almost made me pass out, but I flipped on my back in time to see a bright red Fiat 500 slam into Arachne’s silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with the Chinese Spidercuffs.  
  
As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on a collision course; but her wailing rapidly faded. All around me, more chunks of debris slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes.  
  
The Athena Parthenos remained undamaged, though the marble under its pedestal was a starburst of fractures. I was covered in cobwebs. I trailed strands of leftover spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette, but somehow, amazingly, none of the debris had hit her. I wanted to believe that the statue had protected me, though I suspected it might’ve been nothing but luck.  
  
The army of spiders had disappeared. Either they had fled back into the darkness, or they’d fallen into the chasm. As daylight flooded the cavern, Arachne’s tapestries along the walls crumbled to dust, which I could hardly bear to watch - especially the tapestry depicting me and Percy.  
  
But none of that mattered when I heard Percy’s voice from above: “Annabeth!”  
  
“Here!” I sobbed.  
  
All the terror seemed to leave me in one massive yelp. As the Argo II descended, I saw Percy leaning over the rail. His smile was better than any tapestry I’d ever seen.  
  
The room kept shaking, but I managed to stand. The floor at my feet seemed stable for the moment. My backpack was missing, along with Daedalus’s laptop. My bronze knife, which I’d had since I was seven, was also gone - probably fallen into the pit. But I didn’t care. I was alive.

I edged closer to the gaping hole made by the Fiat 500. Jagged rock walls plunged into the darkness as far as I could see. A few small ledges jutted out here and there, but I saw nothing on them - just strands of spider silk dripping over the sides like Christmas tinsel.

I wondered if Arachne had told the truth about the chasm. Had the spider fallen all the way to Tartarus? I tried to feel satisfied with that idea, but it made me sad. Arachne had made some beautiful things. She’d already suffered for eons. Now her last tapestries had crumbled. After all that, falling into Tartarus seemed like too harsh an end.  
  
I was dimly aware of the Argo II hovering to a stop about forty feet from the floor. It lowered a rope ladder, but I stood in a daze, staring into the darkness. Then suddenly Percy was next to me, lacing his fingers in mine.  
  
He turned me gently away from the pit and wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face in his chest and broke down in tears.  
  
“It’s okay,” he said. “We’re together.”  
  
He didn’t say _you’re okay_ , or _we’re alive_. After all we’d been through over the last year, he knew the most important thing was that we were together. I loved him for saying that.

Our friends gathered around us. Chrissie immediately took my hand squeezed it. I half-noticed her other hand was wrapped in multiple inches of bandaging. Nico di Angelo was there, but my thoughts were so fuzzy, this didn’t seem surprising to me. It seemed only right that he would be with them.

“Your leg.” Piper knelt next to me and examined the Bubble Wrap cast. “Oh, Annabeth, what happened?”  
  
I started to explain. Talking was difficult, but as I went along, my words came more easily. The twins didn’t let go of my hands, which also made me feel more confident. When I finished, my friends’ faces were slack with amazement.  
  
“Gods of Olympus,” Jason said. “You did all that alone. With a broken ankle.”  
  
“Well... some of it with a broken ankle.”  
  
Percy grinned. “You made Arachne weave her own trap? I knew you were good, but Holy Hera - Annabeth, you did it. Generations of Athena kids tried and failed. You found the Athena Parthenos!”  
  
Everyone gazed at the statue.  
  
“What do we do with her?” Frank asked. “She’s huge.”  
  
“We’ll have to take her with us to Greece,” I said. “The statue is powerful. Something about it will help us stop the giants.”

“The giants’ bane stands gold and pale,” Hazel quoted. “Won with pain from a woven jail.” She looked at me with admiration. “It was Arachne’s jail. You tricked her into weaving it.”  
  
With a lot of pain, I thought.  
  
Leo raised his hands. He made a finger picture frame around the Athena Parthenos like he was taking measurements. “Well, it might take some rearranging, but I think we can fit her through the bay doors in the stable. If she sticks out the end, I might have to wrap a flag around her feet or something.”  
  
I shuddered. I imagined the Athena Parthenos jutting from our trireme with a sign across her pedestal that read: WIDE LOAD.

Then I thought about the other lines of the prophecy: _The twins snuff out the angel’s breath, who holds the keys to endless death. Curse brings down the last of three, fire heals and peace breaks free._  
  
“What about you guys?” she asked. “What happened with the giants?”  
  
Percy told me about rescuing Nico, the appearance of Bacchus, and the fight with the twins in the Colosseum. Nico didn’t say much. The poor guy looked like he’d been wandering through a wasteland for six weeks. Percy explained what Nico had found out about the Doors of Death, and how they had to be closed on both sides. Even with sunlight streaming in from above, Percy’s news made the cavern seem dark again.

“So the mortal side is in Epirus,” U said. “At least that’s somewhere we can reach.”  
  
Nico grimaced. “But the other side is the problem. Tartarus.”  
  
The word seemed to echo through the chamber. The pit behind them exhaled a cold blast of air. That’s when I knew with certainty. The chasm did go straight to the Underworld.  
  
The twins must have felt it too. They guided me a little farther from the edge. My arms and legs trailed spider silk like a bridal train. I wished I had my dagger to cut that junk off. I almost asked Percy to do the honors with Riptide, but before I could, he said, “Bacchus mentioned something about my voyage being harder than I expected. Not sure why-”  
  
The chamber groaned. The Athena Parthenos tilted to one side. Its head caught on one of Arachne’s support cables, but the marble foundation under the pedestal was crumbling.

Nausea swelled in my chest. If the statue fell into the chasm, all my work would be for nothing. Our quest would fail.  
  
“Secure it!” I cried.  
  
My friends understood immediately.  
  
“Zhang!” Leo cried. “Get me to the helm, quick! The coach is up there alone.”  
  
Frank transformed into a giant eagle, and the two of them soared toward the ship.  
  
Jason looked at Chrissie, who nudged him toward Piper. He wrapped his arms around her and turned to Percy. “Back for you guys in a sec.” He summoned the wind and shot into the air.

“This floor won’t last!” Hazel warned. “The rest of us should get to the ladder.”  
  
Plumes of dust and cobwebs blasted from holes in the floor. The spider’s silk support cables trembled like massive guitar strings and began to snap. Hazel lunged for the bottom of the rope ladder and gestured for Nico to follow, but Nico was in no condition to sprint.  
  
Percy gripped my hand tighter. “It’ll be fine,” he muttered.  
  
Looking up, I saw grappling lines shoot from the Argo II and wrap around the statue. One lassoed Athena’s neck like a noose. Leo shouted orders from the helm as Jason and Frank flew frantically from line to line, trying to secure them.  
  
Nico had just reached the ladder when a sharp pain shot up my bad leg. I gasped and stumbled.  
  
“What is it?” Percy asked.  
  
I tried to stagger toward the ladder. Why was I moving backward instead? My legs swept out from under me and I fell on my face.  
  
“Her ankle!” Hazel shouted from the ladder. “Cut it! Cut it!”

My mind was woolly from the pain. Cut my ankle?  
  
Apparently the others didn’t realize what Hazel meant either. Then something yanked me backward, out of the twin's grip, and dragged me toward the pit. Percy lunged. He grabbed my arm, but the momentum carried him along as well.  
  
“Help them!” Hazel yelled.

Chrissie ran toward us, but I held up my hand: her emotions were acting up, and the ground right at her feet was quaking. If she - and the rumbling - came too close, the piece of rock we were on could fall into the pit.

I glimpsed Nico hobbling in our direction, Hazel trying to disentangle her cavalry sword from the rope ladder. Our other friends were still focused on the statue, and Hazel’s cry was lost in the general shouting and the rumbling of the cavern.  
  
I sobbed as I hit the edge of the pit. My legs went over the side. Too late, I realized what was happening: I was tangled in the spider silk. I should have cut it away immediately. I had thought it was just loose line, but with the entire floor covered in cobwebs, I hadn’t noticed that one of the strands was wrapped around my foot - and the other end went straight into the pit. It was attached to something heavy down in the darkness, something that was pulling her in.  
  
“No,” Percy muttered, light dawning in his eyes. “My sword...”

But he couldn’t reach Riptide without letting go of my arm, and my strength was gone. I slipped over the edge. Percy fell with me.  
  
My body slammed into something. I must have blacked out briefly from the pain. When I could see again, I realized that I’d fallen partway into the pit and was dangling over the void. Percy had managed to grab a ledge about fifteen feet below the top of the chasm. He was holding on with one hand, gripping my wrist with the other, but the pull on my leg was much too strong.  
  
 _No escape_ , said a voice in the darkness below. _I go to Tartarus, and you will come too._  
  
I wasn’t sure if I actually heard Arachne’s voice or if it was just in her mind.  
  
The pit shook. Percy was the only thing keeping her from falling. He was barely holding on to a ledge the size of a bookshelf.  
  
Nico leaned over the edge of the chasm, thrusting out his hand, but he was much too far away to help. Hazel was yelling for the others, but even if they heard her over all the chaos, they’d never make it in time. Chrissie, who seemed to have gotten control of her powers, leaned over the edge, and Nico had to stop her from going too far. She'd have fallen straight in if she tried to save us.  
  
My leg felt like it was pulling free of my body. Pain washed everything in red. The force of the Underworld tugged at me like dark gravity. I didn’t have the strength to fight. I knew I was too far down to be saved.  
  
“Percy, let me go,” I croaked. “You can’t pull me up.”  
  
His face was white with effort. I could see in his eyes that he knew it was hopeless.  
  
“Never,” he said. He looked up at Chrissie Nico, fifteen feet above. “The other side, guys! We’ll see you there. Understand?”  
  
Nico’s eyes widened. “But-”

Chrissie's eyes went wide with horror as she understood.

“Lead them there!” Percy shouted. “Promise me!”  
  
“I- I will.”  
  
Below us, the voice laughed in the darkness. Sacrifices. Beautiful sacrifices to wake the goddess.  
  
Percy tightened his grip on my wrist. His face was gaunt, scraped and bloody, his hair dusted with cobwebs, but when he locked eyes with me, I thought he had never looked more handsome.  
  
“We’re staying together,” he promised. “You’re not getting away from me. Never again.”  
  
Only then did I understand what would happen. A one-way trip. A very hard fall.  
  
“As long as we’re together,” I said.  
  
I heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help. I saw the sunlight far, far above - maybe the last sunlight I would ever see.  
  
Then Percy let go of his tiny ledge, and together, holding hands, we fell into the endless darkness.


	75. Chapter 75

**CHRISSIE**

I was still in shock.  
  
Everything had happened so quickly. The others had secured grappling lines to the Athena Parthenos just as the floor gave way, and the final columns of webbing snapped. Jason and Frank dove down to save us, and had only found me, Nico and Hazel hanging from the rope ladder. Percy and Annabeth were gone. The pit to Tartarus had been buried under several tons of debris. Leo pulled the Argo II out of the cavern seconds before the entire place imploded, taking the rest of the parking lot with it.

The Argo II was now parked on a hill overlooking the city. Jason, Hazel, and Frank had returned to the scene of the catastrophe, hoping to dig through the rubble and find a way to save Percy and Annabeth, but they’d come back demoralized. The cavern was simply gone. The scene was swarming with police and rescue workers. No mortals had been hurt, but the Italians would be scratching their heads for months, wondering how a massive sinkhole had opened right in the middle of a parking lot and swallowed a dozen perfectly good cars.  
  
Dazed with grief, the others carefully loaded the Athena Parthenos into the hold, using the ship’s hydraulic winches with an assist from Frank Zhang, part-time elephant. The statue just fit, though what they were going to do with it, I had no idea.  
  
I wasn't the only one too miserable to help. Coach Hedge kept pacing the deck with tears in his eyes, pulling at his goatee and slapping the side of his head, muttering, “I should have saved them! I should have blown up more stuff!”

Finally Leo told him to go belowdecks and secure everything for departure. He wasn’t doing any good beating himself up.  
  
The other six demigods gathered on the quarterdeck and gazed at the distant column of dust still rising from the site of the implosion. Jason stood at my side, waiting out the literal calm before the storm - the small part of my logical brain that was still functioning knew that I would definitely be a force of destruction once everything settled in my head.  
  
“It’s my fault,” Leo said miserably.  
  
The others stared at him. Only Piper and Hazel seemed to understand. Still too dazed to react to what happened, I was able to logically deduct that something must've happened at Salt Lake City, then something recently.  
  
“No,” Hazel insisted. “No, this is Gaea’s fault. It had nothing to do with you.”

He didn't look convinced.

“Leo, listen to me.” Hazel gripped his hand. “I won’t allow you to take the blame. I couldn’t bear that after- after Sammy...”  
  
Nico di Angelo shuffled over, leaning on his black sword. “Leo, they’re not dead. If they were, I could feel it.”  
  
“How can you be sure?” I asked. “If that pit really led to... you know... how could you sense them so far away?”  
  
Nico and Hazel shared a look, maybe comparing notes on their Hades/Pluto death radar.  
  
“We can’t be one hundred percent sure,” Hazel admitted. “But I think Nico is right. Percy and Annabeth are still alive... at least, so far.”  
  
Jason pounded his fist against the rail. “I should’ve been paying attention. I could have flown down and saved them.”

“Me, too,” Frank moaned. The big dude looked on the verge of tears.  
  
Piper put her hand on Jason’s back. “It’s not your fault, either of you. You were trying to save the statue.”  
  
“She’s right,” Nico said. “Even if the pit hadn’t been buried, you couldn’t have flown into it without being pulled down. I’m the only one who has actually been into Tartarus. It’s impossible to describe how powerful that place is. Once you get close, it sucks you in. I never stood a chance.”  
  
Frank sniffled. “Then Percy and Annabeth don’t stand a chance either?”  
  
Nico twisted his silver skull ring. “Percy is the most powerful demigod I’ve ever met. No offense to you guys, but it’s true. Even..."

He trailed off, looking at me. I understood - I couldn't control my powers well enough because of how ruled by my emotions they were. My twin had the same problem, but he had always had more control nonetheless. Nico took a deep breath.

"If anybody can survive, he will, especially if he’s got Annabeth at his side. They’re going to find a way through Tartarus.”  
  
Jason turned. “To the Doors of Death, you mean. But you told us it’s guarded by Gaea’s most powerful forces. How could two demigods possibly-?”

My spine went rigid.

Two demigods. Optimal for a quest would be three.

 _Curse brings down the last of three_.

The ground underneath us started trembling. Jason put his arm around me, probably thinking the news was sinking in, but I couldn't bring myself to tell the others.

Considering the fact that, historically, _I_ was the third in Percy and Annabeth's quests, I decided this was my own burden to bear. I couldn't tear morale down even lower, not when I wasn't certain, not when this possible future could not be changed - it was in the prophecy, after all.  
  
“I don’t know,” Nico admitted, breaking me out of my thoughts. “But Percy told us to lead you guys to Epirus, to the mortal side of the doorway. He’s planning on meeting us there. If we can survive the House of Hades, fight our way through Gaea’s forces, then maybe we can work together with Percy and Annabeth and seal the Doors of Death from both sides.”  
  
“And get Percy and Annabeth back safely?” Leo asked.  
  
“Maybe.”  
  
Nico took a deep breath. “I don’t know how they’ll manage it, but Percy and Annabeth will find a way. They’ll journey through Tartarus and find the Doors of Death. When they do, we have to be ready.”  
  
“It won’t be easy,” Hazel said. “Gaea will throw everything she’s got at us to keep us from reaching Epirus.”  
  
“What else is new?” Jason sighed.  
  
Piper nodded. “We’ve got no choice. We have to seal the Doors of Death before we can stop the giants from raising Gaea. Otherwise her armies will never die. And we’ve got to hurry. The Romans are in New York. Soon, they’ll be marching on Camp Half-Blood.”  
  
“We’ve got one month at best,” Jason added. “Ephialtes said Gaea would awaken in exactly one month.”  
  
Leo straightened. “We can do it.”  
  
Everyone stared at him.  
  
“The Archimedes sphere can upgrade the ship,” he said. “I’m going to study those ancient scrolls we got. There’s got to be all kinds of new weapons I can make. We’re going to hit Gaea’s armies with a whole new arsenal of hurt.”  
  
At the prow of the ship, Festus creaked his jaw and blew fire defiantly.  
  
Jason managed a smile. He clapped Leo on the shoulder.  
  
“Sounds like a plan, Admiral. You want to set the course?”  
  
We usually kidded him, calling him Admiral, but for once Leo accepted the title. I stood up straight, looking him into the eyes, and we shared an understanding - thought he would have thought I was included in their part of the plan.  
  
They would find this House of Hades. They’d take the Doors of Death.

And by the gods, if I had to go down into the pit to bring Percy and Annabeth out of Tartarus, then that’s what I would do, no curse needed. I would _jump_ to save them if that's what it took.  
  
“Yeah.” Leo took one last look at the cityscape of Rome, turning bloodred in the sunset. “Festus, raise the sails. We’ve got some friends to save.”


	76. Chapter 76

**CHRISSIE**

Leo had designed the mess hall’s walls to show real-time scenes from Camp Half-Blood. At first he had thought that was a pretty awesome idea. Now he didn't seem so sure.  
  
The scenes from back home - the campfire sing-alongs, dinners at the pavilion, volleyball games outside the Big House - just made us sad. The farther we got from Long Island, the worse it got. The time zones kept changing, making me feel the distance every time I looked at the walls. Here in Italy the sun had just come up. Back at Camp Half-Blood it was the middle of the night. Torches sputtered at the cabin doorways. Moonlight glittered on the waves of Long Island Sound. The beach was covered in footprints, as if a big crowd had just left.  
  
With a start, I realized that yesterday - last night, whatever - had been the Fourth of July. We’d missed Camp Half-Blood’s annual party at the beach with awesome fireworks prepared by Leo’s siblings in Cabin Nine.  
  
I decided not to mention that to the crew, but I hoped my family back home had had a good celebration. They needed something to keep their spirits up, too.  
  
I stared down my cup of coffee. It was still boiling hot, but even wrapping my hands around it couldn't heat me up anymore. It seemed I'd lost all warmth the moment my twin had let go of that ledge. I knew, logically, my skin should feel like it was burning, but I still felt like I was holding an ice cube.  
  
“So,” Jason said, “now that we’re here...”  
  
He sat at the head of the table, kind of by default. Since we’d lost Annabeth, Jason had done his best to act as the group’s leader. Having been praetor back at Camp Jupiter, he was probably used to that; but I could tell my boyfriend was stressed. His eyes were more sunken than usual. His blond hair was uncharacteristically messy, like he’d forgotten to comb it.  
  
I glanced at the others around the table. Hazel was bleary-eyed, too, but she’d been up all night guiding the ship through the mountains. Her curly cinnamon-colored hair was tied back in a bandana, which gave her a commando look that was actually pretty hot. The thought made me look at Nico, who was sat back in his leather aviator jacket, his black T-shirt and jeans, that wicked silver skull ring on his finger, and the Stygian sword at his side. His tufts of black hair stuck up in curls like baby bat wings. His eyes were sad and kind of empty, as if he’d stared into the depths of Tartarus - which he had.

On Hazel's other side sat her boyfriend Frank Zhang, dressed in black workout pants and a Roman tourist T-shirt that said CIAO! Frank’s old centurion badge was pinned to his shirt, despite the fact that the demigods of the Argo II were now Public Enemies Numbers 1 through 7 back at Camp Jupiter. His grim expression just reinforced his unfortunate resemblance to a sumo wrestler.  
  
The only absent demigod was Piper, who was taking her turn at the helm with Coach Hedge, our satyr chaperone.  
  
I had zoned out so totally I didn’t realize Jason was still talking, which was pretty normal nowadays. I looked like a walking corpse most of the time; my lips were tinted slightly blue from the inexplicable cold, the bags under my eyes looked like full-on bruises at this point, and I could barely keep any solid food inside of me, causing my cheekbones to appear as hollow as Nico's. When I stretched, my bruise-riddled skin showed my ribs.  
  
“-the House of Hades,” my boyfriend was saying as I tuned back into the conversation. “Nico?”  
  
Nico sat forward. “I communed with the dead last night.”  
  
He just tossed that line out there, like he was saying he got a text from a buddy. I wasn't even bothered by it at this point - I'd kept him company last night. Neither of us were unable to sleep, so I talked to him about my theory. I knew Nico well enough at this point to know he would be sad from the news, but wouldn't try to change that which could not be changed. He'd learned his lesson from letting his full sister, Bianca, pass in peace.  
  
“I was able to learn more about what we’ll face,” the son of Hades continued. “In ancient times, the House of Hades was a major site for Greek pilgrims. They would come to speak with the dead and honor their ancestors.”  
  
Leo frowned. “Sounds like Día de los Muertos. My Aunt Rosa took that stuff seriously.”  
  
Frank grunted. “Chinese have that, too - ancestor worship, sweeping the graves in the springtime.” He glanced at Leo. “Your Aunt Rosa would’ve gotten along with my grandmother.”  
  
“Yeah,” Leo said. “I’m sure they would’ve been best buds.”  
  
Nico cleared his throat. “A lot of cultures have seasonal traditions to honor the dead, but the House of Hades was open year-round. Pilgrims could actually speak to the ghosts. In Greek, the place was called the Necromanteion, the Oracle of Death. You’d work your way through different levels of tunnels, leaving offerings and drinking special potions-”  
  
“Special potions,” Leo muttered. “Yum.”  
  
Jason flashed him a look like, _Dude, enough._ “Nico, go on.”  
  
“The pilgrims believed that each level of the temple brought you closer to the Underworld, until the dead would appear before you. If they were pleased with your offerings, they would answer your questions, maybe even tell you the future.”  
  
Frank tapped his mug of hot chocolate. “And if the spirits weren’t pleased?”

“Some pilgrims found nothing,” Nico said. “Some went insane, or died after leaving the temple. Others lost their way in the tunnels and were never seen again.”  
  
“The point is,” Jason said quickly, “Nico found some information that might help us.”  
  
“Yeah.” Nico didn’t sound very enthusiastic. “The ghost I spoke to last night... he was a former priest of Hecate. He confirmed what the goddess told Hazel yesterday at the crossroads. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought for the gods. She slew one of the giants - one who’d been designed as the anti-Hecate. A guy named Clytius.”  
  
“Dark dude,” Leo guessed. “Wrapped in shadows.”  
  
Hazel turned toward him, her gold eyes narrowing. “Leo, how did you know that?”  
  
“Kind of had a dream.”  
  
No one looked surprised. Most demigods had vivid nightmares about what was going on in the world.  
  
We paid close attention as Leo explained. He told us about the dark giant, and the strange woman on Half-Blood Hill, offering him a multiple-choice death.

Jason pushed away his plate of pancakes, eyeing the untouched apple on my plate with a frown. “So the giant is Clytius. I suppose he’ll be waiting for us, guarding the Doors of Death.”  
  
Frank rolled up one of the pancakes and started munching - not a guy to let impending death stand in the way of a hearty breakfast. “And the woman in Leo’s dream?”  
  
“She’s my problem.” Hazel passed a diamond between her fingers in a sleight of hand. “Hecate mentioned a formidable enemy in the House of Hades - a witch who couldn’t be defeated except by me, using magic.”  
  
“Do you know magic?” Leo asked.  
  
“Not yet.”  
  
“Ah. Any idea who she is?”  
  
Hazel shook her head. “Only that...” She glanced at Nico, and some sort of silent argument happened between them. I got the feeling that the two of them had had private conversations about the House of Hades, and they weren’t sharing all the details - of course, I couldn't out them on that, having had some conversations with Nico of my own. “Only that she won’t be easy to defeat.”

“But there is some good news,” Nico said. “The ghost I talked to explained how Hecate defeated Clytius in the first war. She used her torches to set his hair on fire. He burned to death. In other words, fire is his weakness.”  
  
Everybody looked at Leo.  
  
“Oh,” he said. “Okay.”  
  
“It’s a good lead,” Jason insisted. “At least we know how to kill the giant. And this sorceress... well, if Hecate believes Hazel can defeat her, then so do I.”  
  
Hazel dropped her eyes. “Now we just have to reach the House of Hades, battle our way through Gaea’s forces-”

“Plus a bunch of ghosts,” Nico added grimly. “The spirits in that temple may not be friendly.”  
  
“-and find the Doors of Death,” Hazel continued. “Assuming we can somehow arrive at the same time as Percy and Annabeth and rescue them.”  
  
Frank swallowed a bite of pancake. “We can do it. We have to.”  
  
I admired the big guy’s optimism. I wished I shared it.  
  
“So, with this detour,” Leo said, “I’m estimating four or five days to arrive at Epirus, assuming no delays for, you know, monster attacks and stuff.”  
  
Jason smiled sourly. “Yeah. Those never happen.”  
  
Leo looked at Hazel. “Hecate told you that Gaea was planning her big Wake Up party on August first, right? The Feast of Whatever?”  
  
“Spes,” Hazel said. “The goddess of hope.”  
  
Jason turned his fork. “Theoretically, that leaves us enough time. It’s only July fifth. We should be able to close the Doors of Death, then find the giants’ HQ and stop them from waking Gaea before August first.”  
  
“Theoretically,” Hazel agreed. “But I’d still like to know how we make our way through the House of Hades without going insane or dying.”  
  
Nobody volunteered any ideas.  
  
Frank set down his pancake roll like it suddenly didn’t taste so good. “It’s July fifth. Oh, jeez, I hadn’t even thought of that...”  
  
“Hey, man, it’s cool,” Leo said. “You’re Canadian, right? I didn’t expect you to get me an Independence Day present or anything... unless you wanted to.”

“It’s not that. My grandmother... she always told me that seven was an unlucky number. It was a ghost number. And July is the seventh month.”  
  
“Yeah, but..." Leo trailed off for a second. "But that’s just coincidence, right?”  
  
Frank’s expression didn’t reassure us.  
  
“Back in China,” Frank said, “in the old days, people called the seventh month the ghost month. That’s when the spirit world and the human world were closest. The living and the dead could go back and forth. Tell me it’s a coincidence we’re searching for the Doors of Death during the ghost month.”  
  
No one spoke.  
  
I wanted to think that an old Chinese belief couldn’t have anything to do with the Romans and the Greeks. Totally different, right? But Frank’s existence was proof that the cultures were tied together. The Zhang family went all the way back to Ancient Greece. They’d found their way through Rome and China and finally to Canada.  
  
Jason pressed his hands against the arms of his chair. “Let’s focus on the things we can deal with. We’re getting close to Bologna. Maybe we’ll get more answers once we find these dwarfs that Hecate-”

The ship lurched as if it had hit an iceberg. My apple rolled off of my plate, onto my lap. Leo's breakfast plate slid across the table. Nico fell backward out of his chair and banged his head against the sideboard. He collapsed on the floor, with a dozen magic goblets and platters crashing down on top of him.  
  
“Nico!” Hazel and I ran to help him.  
  
“What-?” Frank tried to stand, but the ship pitched in the other direction. He stumbled into the table and went face-first into Leo’s plate of scrambled eggs.  
  
“Look!” Jason pointed at the walls. The images of Camp Half-Blood were flickering and changing.  
  
“Not possible,” Leo murmured.  
  
Suddenly a huge, distorted face filled the entire port-side wall: crooked yellow teeth, a scraggly red beard, a warty nose, and two mismatched eyes - one much larger and higher than the other. The face seemed to be trying to eat its way into the room.  
  
The other walls flickered, showing scenes from above deck. Piper stood at the helm, but something was wrong. From the shoulders down she was wrapped in duct tape, her mouth gagged and her legs bound to the control console.  
  
At the mainmast, Coach Hedge was similarly bound and gagged, while a bizarre-looking creature - a sort of gnome/chimpanzee combo with poor fashion sense - danced around him, doing the coach’s hair in tiny pigtails with pink rubber bands.

On the port-side wall, the huge ugly face receded so that Leo could see the entire creature - another gnome chimp, in even crazier clothes. This one began leaping around the deck, stuffing things in a burlap bag - Piper’s dagger, Leo’s Wii controllers. Then he pried the Archimedes sphere out of the command console.  
  
“No!” Leo yelled.  
  
“Uhhh,” Nico groaned from the floor.  
  
“Piper!” Jason cried.  
  
“Monkey!” Frank yelled.  
  
“Not monkeys,” Hazel grumbled. “I think those are dwarfs.”  
  
“Stealing my stuff!” Leo yelled, and he ran for the stairs.

“Go," I yelled at Jason to follow Leo. "We’ll take care of Nico!"


	77. Chapter 77

CHRISSIE

The following days, my condition got worse.

In Venice, Frank had a growth spurt, which seemed a little unfair at me. Of course I was happy for the guy, but I hadn't eaten that day for fear of throwing up, so I was getting tired and grumpy.

Even worse, we went all the way to Venice to hear we- well, _they_ , actually - had to eat barley of all things.

Hazel also now had a magic polecat, of all things strange. Apparently the thing was here to check up on her - Hecate's orders. My suspicion that a test was coming proved right when she and my boyfriend had to defeat some guy with a turtle - the test ended up including me having to watch Jason get fake-eaten without knowing it was a trick of the Mist, which wasn't great - I fainted on the spot.

That ended up actually helping, as it turned out: I finally got some rest in me, and when I woke up, I was able to eat some grapes and crackers.

It all made me feel extremely suspicious, like a calm before the storm. I constantly felt like something was tugging me down, which could have only meant one thing, as far as I knew.

The curse was growing close.

I learned that, while I'd been knocked out, Annabeth had sent a note from Tartarus to Camp, and we'd set sail for Split.

Jason and Nico were ready to go on a quest, so I insisted I came with them as a third member. I felt the need to do at least one useful thing before I got dragged down. Nico understood, thankfully.

After we landed, we first saw the angel-looking guy at the ice cream cart.

The Argo II had anchored in the bay along with six or seven cruise ships. As usual, the mortals didn’t pay the trireme any attention; but just to be safe, we hopped on a skiff from one of the tourist boats so we would look like part of the crowd when they came ashore.  
  
At first glance, Split seemed like a cool place. Curving around the harbor was a long esplanade lined with palm trees. At the sidewalk cafés, European teenagers were hanging out, speaking a dozen different languages and enjoying the sunny afternoon. The air smelled of grilled meat and fresh-cut flowers.  
  
Beyond the main boulevard, the city was a hodgepodge of medieval castle towers, Roman walls, limestone town houses with red-tiled roofs, and modern office buildings all crammed together. In the distance, gray-green hills marched toward a mountain ridge, which made my boyfriend a little nervous. He kept glancing at that rocky escarpment, expecting the face of Gaea to appear in its shadows.

The three of us were wandering along the esplanade when Jason spotted the guy with wings buying an ice cream bar from a street cart. The vendor lady looked bored as she counted the guy’s change. Tourists navigated around the angel’s huge wings without a second glance.

I followed his line of sight and nudged Nico. “Are you seeing this?”  
  
“Yeah,” Nico agreed. “Maybe we should buy some ice cream.”  
  
As we made our way toward the street cart, I worried that this winged dude might be a son of Boreas the North Wind. At his side, the angel carried the same kind of jagged bronze sword the Boreads had, and our last encounter with them hadn’t gone so well.

But this guy seemed more chill than chilly. He wore a red tank top, Bermuda shorts, and huarache sandals. His wings were a combination of russet colors, like a bantam rooster or a lazy sunset. He had a deep tan and black hair almost as curly as Leo’s.  
  
“He’s not a returned spirit,” Nico murmured. “Or a creature of the Underworld.”  
  
“No,” Jason agreed. “I doubt they would eat chocolate-covered ice cream bars.”  
  
“So what is he?” I wondered.  
  
We got within thirty feet, and the winged dude looked directly at us. He smiled, gestured over his shoulder with his ice cream bar, and dissolved into the air.  
  
Jason seemed to be able to follow where I guess the essence of the dude was, probably a son-of-Zeus/Jupiter thing.  
  
“I’m betting that’s the palace,” he said, pointing at some old semi-ruins. “Come on.”

Even after two millennia, Diocletian’s Palace was still impressive. The outer wall was only a pink granite shell, with crumbling columns and arched windows open to the sky, but it was mostly intact, a quarter mile long and seventy or eighty feet tall, dwarfing the modern shops and houses that huddled beneath it. I imagined what the palace must have looked like when it was newly built, with Imperial guards walking the ramparts and the golden eagles of Rome glinting on the parapets.  
  
“We’ve got to catch him,” Jason interrupted my train of thought. “Hold on.”  
  
“But-”  
  
Jason grabbed both me and Nico and lifted us all into the air.  
  
Nico made a muffled sound of protest as we soared over the walls and into a courtyard where more tourists were milling around, taking pictures.

A little kid did a double take when we landed. Then his eyes glazed over and he shook his head, like he was dismissing a juice-box-induced hallucination. No one else paid us any attention.  
  
On the left side of the courtyard stood a line of columns holding up weathered gray arches. On the right side was a white marble building with rows of tall windows.  
  
“The peristyle,” Nico said. “This was the entrance to Diocletian’s private residence.” He scowled at Jason. “And please, I don’t like being touched. Don’t ever grab me again.”  
  
Jason’s shoulder blades tensed. “Uh, okay. Sorry. How do you know what this place is called?”  
  
Nico scanned the atrium. He focused on some steps in the far corner, leading down.  
  
“I’ve been here before.” His eyes were as dark as his blade. “With my mother and Bianca. A weekend trip from Venice. I was maybe... six?”  
  
“That was when... the 1930s?”  
  
“’Thirty-eight or so,” Nico said absently. “Why do you care? Do you see that winged guy anywhere?”  
  
“No...” Jason hesitated. Before I could figure out how to gesture " _don't push him_ " without Nico noticing, my boyfriend continued speaking. “I just... I can’t imagine how weird that must be, coming from another time.”

“No, you can’t.” Nico stared at the stone floor. He took a deep breath.  
  
“Look... I don’t like talking about it. Honestly, I think Hazel has it worse. She remembers more about when she was young. She had to come back from the dead and adjust to the modern world. Me... me and Bianca, we were stuck at the Lotus Hotel. Time passed so quickly. In a weird way, that made the transition easier.”  
  
“Percy told me about that place,” Jason said, which was of course the opposite of the right thing to say. “Seventy years, but it only felt like a month?”  
  
Nico clenched his fist until his fingers turned white. “Yeah. I’m sure Percy told you all about me.”  
  
His voice was heavy with bitterness - more than Jason could ever possibly understand. Growing up in that era, knowing who you are wouldn't be accepted as normal, or even as okay, then having my brother - Nico's hero - come bearing the news of Bianca's death? It can't have been easy, especially after Percy's happy ending with Annabeth (however short-lived the 'happy' part had been).

Nico’s eyes swept the windows above us. “Roman dead are everywhere here... Lares. Lemures. They’re watching. They’re angry.”  
  
“At us?” Jason’s hand went to his sword.  
  
“At everything.” Nico pointed to a small stone building on the west end of the courtyard. “That used to be a temple to Jupiter. The Christians changed it to a baptistery. The Roman ghosts don’t like that.”  
  
Jason stared at the dark doorway.

“And over there...” Nico pointed east to a hexagonal building ringed with freestanding columns. “That was the mausoleum of the emperor.”  
  
“But his tomb isn’t there anymore,” Jason guessed.  
  
“Not for centuries,” Nico said. “When the empire collapsed, the building was turned into a Christian cathedral.”  
  
Jason swallowed. “So if Diocletian’s ghost is still around here-”  
  
“He’s probably not happy.”  
  
The wind rustled, pushing leaves and food wrappers across the peristyle. In the corner of his eye, Jason caught a glimpse of movement - a blur of red and gold.  
  
When he turned, a single rust-colored feather was settling on the steps that led down.  
  
“That way.” Jason pointed. “The winged guy. Where do you think those stairs lead?”  
  
Nico drew his sword. His smile was even more unsettling than his scowl. “Underground,” he said. “My favorite place.”  
  
We made our way under the low archways, our steps echoing on the stone floor. Barred windows lined the top of one wall, facing the street level, but that just made the cellar feel more claustrophobic. The shafts of sunlight looked like slanted prison bars, swirling with ancient dust.  
  
Jason passed a support beam, looked to his left, and jumped. Staring right at him was a marble bust of Diocletian, his limestone face glowering with disapproval.  
  
Jason steadied his breathing. This seemed like a good place to leave the note he’d apparently written for Reyna, telling her of the route to Epirus. Jason slipped the note between the bust and its pedestal, and stepped back.  
  
“Hello!”  
  
Before Jason could register that the voice had come from somewhere else, he sliced off the emperor’s head. The bust toppled and shattered against the floor.  
  
“That wasn’t very nice,” said the voice behind us.  
  
Jason turned. The winged man from the ice cream stand was leaning against a nearby column, casually tossing a small bronze hoop in the air. At his feet sat a wicker picnic basket full of fruit.  
  
“I mean,” the man said, “what did Diocletian ever do to you?”  
  
The air swirled around Jason’s feet. The shards of marble gathered into a miniature tornado, spiraled back to the pedestal, and reassembled into a complete bust, the note still tucked underneath.  
  
“Uh-” Jason lowered his sword. “It was an accident. You startled me.”  
  
The winged dude chuckled. “Jason Grace, the West Wind has been called many things... warm, gentle, life-giving, and devilishly handsome. But I have never been called startling. I leave that crass behavior to my gusty brethren in the north.”  
  
Nico inched backward. “The West Wind? You mean you’re-”

“Favonius,” Jason realized. “God of the West Wind.”  
  
Favonius smiled and bowed, obviously pleased to be recognized. “You can call me by my Roman name, certainly, or Zephyros, if you’re Greek. I’m not hung up about it.”  
  
Nico looked pretty hung up about it. “Why aren’t your Greek and Roman sides in conflict, like the other gods?”  
  
“Oh, I have the occasional headache.” Favonius shrugged. “Some mornings I’ll wake up in a Greek chiton when I’m sure I went to sleep in my SPQR pajamas. But mostly the war doesn’t bother me. I’m a minor god, you know - never really been much in the limelight. The to-and-fro battles among you demigods don’t affect me as greatly.”

“So...” Jason wasn’t quite sure whether to sheathe his sword. “What are you doing here?”  
  
“Several things!” Favonius said. “Hanging out with my basket of fruit. I always carry a basket of fruit. Would you like a pear?”  
  
“I’m good. Thanks.”  
  
“Let’s see... earlier I was eating ice cream. Right now I’m tossing this quoit ring.” Favonius spun the bronze hoop on his index finger.  
  
I had no idea what a quoit was, but I tried to stay focused. “I mean why did you appear to us? Why did you lead us to this cellar?”

“Oh!” Favonius nodded. “The sarcophagus of Diocletian. Yes. This was its final resting place. The Christians moved it out of the mausoleum. Then some barbarians destroyed the coffin. I just wanted to show you - —he spread his hands sadly - “that what you’re looking for isn’t here. My master has taken it.”  
  
“Your master?” I had a flashback to a floating palace above Pikes Peak in Colorado, where we’d visited (and barely survived) the studio of a crazy weatherman who claimed he was the god of all the winds. “Please tell me your master isn’t Aeolus.”  
  
“That airhead?” Favonius snorted. “No, of course not.”  
  
“He means Eros.” Nico’s voice turned understandably edgy. “Cupid, in Latin.”  
  
Favonius smiled. “Very good, Nico di Angelo. I’m glad to see you again, by the way. It’s been a long time.”  
  
Nico knit his eyebrows. “I’ve never met you.”  
  
“You’ve never seen me,” the god corrected. “But I’ve been watching you. When you came here as a small boy, and several times since. I knew eventually you would return to look upon my master’s face.”  
  
Nico turned even paler than usual. His eyes darted around the cavernous room as if he was starting to feel trapped. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew this was something he needed to face on his own.  
  
“Nico?” Jason said. “What’s he talking about?”  
  
“I don’t know. Nothing.”  
  
“Nothing?” Favonius cried. “The one you care for most... plunged into Tartarus, and still you will not allow the truth?”  
  
So he _did_ have a crush on my brother.

“We’ve only come for Diocletian’s scepter,” Nico said, clearly anxious to change the subject. “Where is it?”

“Ah...” Favonius nodded sadly. “You thought it would be as easy as facing Diocletian’s ghost? I’m afraid not, Nico. Your trials will be much more difficult. You know, long before this was Diocletian’s Palace, it was the gateway to my master’s court. I’ve dwelt here for eons, bringing those who sought love into the presence of Cupid.”  
  
“Like Psyche," Jason said. "Cupid’s wife. You carried her to his palace.”  
  
Favonius’s eyes twinkled. “Very good, Jason Grace. From this exact spot, I carried Psyche on the winds and brought her to the chambers of my master. In fact, that is why Diocletian built his palace here. This place has always been graced by the gentle West Wind.” He spread his arms. “It is a spot of tranquility and love in a turbulent world. When Diocletian’s Palace was ransacked-”  
  
“You took the scepter,” I guessed.  
  
“For safekeeping,” Favonius agreed. “It is one of Cupid’s many treasures, a reminder of better times. If you want it...” Favonius turned to Nico. “You must face the god of love.”  
  
Nico stared at the sunlight coming through the windows, as if wishing he could escape through those narrow openings.

“Nico, you can do this,” Jason said. “It might be embarrassing, but it’s for the scepter.”  
  
I glared at him. I loved him, by the _gods_ did I love him, but he could be so _dense_ sometimes.

Nico didn’t look convinced. In fact he looked like he was going to be sick. But he squared his shoulders and nodded. “You’re right. I- I’m not afraid of a love god.”  
  
Favonius beamed. “Excellent! Would you like a snack before you go?” He plucked a green apple from his basket and frowned at it. “Oh, bluster. I keep forgetting my symbol is a basket of unripe fruit. Why doesn’t the spring wind get more credit? Summer has all the fun.”  
  
“That’s okay,” Nico said quickly. “Just take us to Cupid.”  
  
Favonius spun the hoop on his finger, and my body dissolved into air.  
  
I had ridden the winds a couple times, of course, courtesy of Jason.

Being the wind was not the same.  
  
I felt out of control, my thoughts scattered, no boundaries between my body and the rest of the world. I wondered if this was how monsters felt when they were defeated - bursting into dust, helpless and formless.

I could sense Jason's and Nico’s presences nearby. The West Wind carried us into the sky above Split. Together we raced over the hills, past Roman aqueducts, highways, and vineyards. As we approached the mountains, I saw the ruins of a Roman town spread out in a valley below - crumbling walls, square foundations, and cracked roads, all overgrown with grass - so it looked like a giant, mossy game board.  
  
Favonius set us down in the middle of the ruins, next to a broken column the size of a redwood.  
  
My body re-formed. For a moment it felt even worse than being the wind, like I’d suddenly been wrapped in a lead overcoat.  
  
“Yes, mortal bodies are terribly bulky,” Favonius said, as if reading my thoughts. The wind god settled on a nearby wall with his basket of fruit and spread his russet wings in the sun. “Honestly, I don’t know how you stand it, day in and day out.”  
  
I scanned our surroundings. The town must have been huge once. I could make out the shells of temples and bathhouses, a half-buried amphitheater, and empty pedestals that must have once held statues. Rows of columns marched off to nowhere. The old city walls wove in and out of the hillside like stone thread through a green cloth.

Some areas looked like they’d been excavated, but most of the city just seemed abandoned, as if it had been left to the elements for the last two thousand years.  
  
“Welcome to Salona,” Favonius said. “Capital of Dalmatia! Birthplace of Diocletian! But before that, long before that, it was the home of Cupid.”  
  
The name echoed, as if voices were whispering it through the ruins.  
  
Something about this place seemed even creepier than the palace basement in Split. I had never thought much about Cupid or Eros, except for when I met Persephone, who'd been kidnapped by Nico's dad, who'd been struck by the arrow of love on Aphrodite's command.  
  
“Oh, he’s not like that,” said Favonius to my boyfriend.  
  
Jason flinched. “You can read my mind?”  
  
“I don’t need to.” Favonius tossed his bronze hoop in the air. “Almost everyone has the wrong impression of Cupid... until they meet him.”  
  
Nico braced himself against a column, his legs trembling visibly.  
  
“Hey, man...” Jason stepped toward him, but Nico waved him off.  
  
At Nico’s feet, the grass turned brown and wilted. The dead patch spread outward, as if poison were seeping from the soles of his shoes.  
  
“Ah...” Favonius nodded sympathetically. “I don’t blame you for being nervous, Nico di Angelo. Do you know how I ended up serving Cupid?”  
  
“I don’t serve anyone,” Nico muttered. “Especially not Cupid.”  
  
Favonius continued as if he hadn’t heard. “I fell in love with a mortal named Hyacinthus. He was quite extraordinary.”  
  
“He...?” Jason’s took a second to process that. “Oh...”  
  
“Yes, Jason Grace.” Favonius arched an eyebrow. “I fell in love with a dude. Does that shock you?”

Jason wasn't fully new to thinking about sexuality as a spectrum, of course, with me as his girlfriend, but he was still fairly heteronormative in his thinking.  
  
“I guess not," my boyfriend finally decided. "So... Cupid struck you with his arrow, and you fell in love.”  
  
Favonius snorted. “You make it sound so simple. Alas, love is never simple. You see, the god Apollo also liked Hyacinthus. He claimed they were just friends. I don’t know. But one day I came across them together, playing a game of quoits-”  
  
There was that weird word again. “Quoits?”  
  
“A game with those hoops,” Nico explained, though his voice was brittle. “Like horseshoes.”  
  
“Sort of,” Favonius said. “At any rate, I was jealous. Instead of confronting them and finding out the truth, I shifted the wind and sent a heavy metal ring right at Hyacinthus’s head and…well.” The wind god sighed. “As Hyacinthus died, Apollo turned him into a flower, the hyacinth. I’m sure Apollo would’ve taken horrible vengeance on me, but Cupid offered me his protection. I’d done a terrible thing, but I’d been driven mad by love, so he spared me, on the condition that I work for him forever.”  
  
 _CUPID_.  
  
The name echoed through the ruins again.  
  
“That would be my cue.” Favonius stood. “Think long and hard about how you proceed, Nico di Angelo. You cannot lie to Cupid. If you let your anger rule you... well, your fate will be even sadder than mine.”  
  
I had no time to think about strategies. The wind god disappeared in a swirl of red and gold. The summer air suddenly felt oppressive. The ground shook, and Jason and Nico drew their swords.


	78. Chapter 78

**JASON**

_So._  
  
The voice rushed past my ear like a bullet. When I turned, no one was there.  
  
 _You come to claim the scepter._  
  
Nico stood at my back, so Chrissie and I formed a triangle with him, and for once I was glad to have the guy’s company.

“Cupid,” I called, “where are you?”  
  
The voice laughed. It definitely didn’t sound like a cute baby angel’s. It sounded deep and rich, but also threatening - like a tremor before a major earthquake.  
  
 _Where you least expect me_ , Cupid answered. _As Love always is._  
  
Something slammed into me and hurled me across the street. I toppled down a set of steps and sprawled on the floor of an excavated Roman basement.  
  
 _I would think you’d know better, Jason Grace._ Cupid’s voice whirled around me. _You’ve found true love, after all. Or do you still doubt yourself?_  
  
Chrissie scrambled down the steps, Nico right behind her. “You okay?”  
  
I accepted her hand and got to my feet. “Yeah. Just sucker punched.”  
  
 _Oh, did you expect me to play fair?_ Cupid laughed. _I am the god of love. I am never fair._

This time, my senses were on high alert. I felt the air ripple just as an arrow materialized, racing toward Nico’s chest.  
  
I intercepted it with my sword and deflected it sideways. The arrow exploded against the nearest wall, peppering us with limestone shrapnel.  
  
We ran up the steps. I pulled NIco to one side as another gust of wind toppled a column that would have crushed him flat.  
  
“Is this guy Love or Death?” Chrissie growled.  
  
 _Ask your twin,_ Cupid said. _He and your Roman friends have met my counterpart, Thanatos. We are not so different. Except Death is sometimes kinder._  
  
“We just want the scepter!” Nico shouted. “We’re trying to stop Gaea. Are you on the gods’ side or not?”

A second arrow hit the ground between Nico’s feet and glowed white-hot. Nico stumbled back as the arrow burst into a geyser of flame.  
  
 _Love is on every side,_ Cupid said. _And no one’s side. Don’t ask what Love can do for you._  
  
“Great,” Chrissie said. “Now he’s spouting greeting card messages.”  
  
Movement behind me: I spun, slicing my sword through the air. My blade bit into something solid. I heard a grunt and swung again, but the invisible god was gone. On the paving stones, a trail of golden ichor shimmered - the blood of the gods.  
  
 _Very good, Jason,_ Cupid said. _At least you can sense my presence. Even a glancing hit at true love is more than most heroes manage_.  
  
“So now I get the scepter?” I asked.  
  
Cupid laughed. _Unfortunately, you could not wield it. Only a child of the Underworld can summon the dead legions. And only an officer of Rome can lead them._  
  
“But...” I wavered. I was an officer. I was praetor. Then I remembered all my second thoughts about where I belonged. In New Rome, I’d offered to give up my position to Percy Jackson. Did that make me unworthy to lead a legion of Roman ghosts?

I decided to face that problem when the time came.  
  
“Just leave that to us,” I said. “Nico can summon-”  
  
The third arrow zipped by my shoulder. I couldn’t stop it in time. Nico gasped as it sunk into his sword arm.  
  
“Nico!”  
  
The son of Hades stumbled. The arrow dissolved, leaving no blood and no visible wound, but Nico’s face was tight with rage and pain.  
  
“Enough games!” Nico shouted. “Show yourself!”  
  
 _It is a costly thing,_ Cupid said, _looking on the true face of Love._  
  
Another column toppled. I scrambled out of its way.

 _My wife Psyche learned that lesson,_ Cupid said. _She was brought here eons ago, when this was the site of my palace. We met only in the dark. She was warned never to look upon me, and yet she could not stand the mystery. She feared I was a monster. One night, she lit a candle, and beheld my face as I slept._  
  
“Were you that ugly?” I thought I had zeroed in on Cupid’s voice - at the edge of the amphitheater about twenty yards away - but I wanted to make sure.  
  
The god laughed. _I was too handsome, I’m afraid. A mortal cannot gaze upon the true appearance of a god without suffering consequences. My mother, Aphrodite, cursed Psyche for her distrust. My poor lover was tormented, forced into exile, given horrible tasks to prove her worth. She was even sent to the Underworld on a quest to show her dedication. She earned her way back to my side, but she suffered greatly._  
  
I I thought.  
  
I thrust my sword in the sky and thunder shook the valley. Lightning blasted a crater where the voice had been speaking.  
  
Silence. I was just thinking, _Dang, it actually worked,_ when an invisible force knocked me to the ground. My sword skittered across the road.  
  
 _A good try_ , Cupid said, his voice already distant. _But Love cannot be pinned down so easily._

Next to me, a wall collapsed. I barely managed to roll aside.  
  
“Stop it!” Nico yelled. “It’s me you want. Leave him alone!”  
  
My ears rang. I was dizzy from getting smacked around. My mouth tasted like limestone dust. I didn’t understand why Nico would think of himself as the main target, but Cupid seemed to agree.  
  
 _Poor Nico di Angelo_. The god’s voice was tinged with disappointment. _Do you know what you want, much less what I want? My beloved Psyche risked everything in the name of Love. It was the only way to atone for her lack of faith. And you - what have you risked in my name?_

The ground shook - not Cupid's doing this time. My girlfriend was looking very, very angry.

"He's faced more than enough in your name," she snarled, "and you know it damn well."

“I’ve been to Tartarus and back,” Nico added. “You don’t scare me.”  
  
 _I scare you very, very much. Face me. Be honest._  
  
I pulled myself up off of the trembling earth.  
  
All around Nico, the ground shifted. The grass withered, and the stones cracked as if something was moving in the earth beneath, trying to push its way through.  
  
“Give us Diocletian’s scepter,” Nico said. “We don’t have time for games.”

 _Games?_ Cupid struck, slapping Nico sideways into a granite pedestal. _Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work - a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you - especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards._  
  
I retrieved my sword. If this invisible guy was Love, I was beginning to think Love was overrated. I liked the version Piper’s stood for better - considerate, kind, and beautiful. Aphrodite I could understand. Cupid seemed more like a thug, an enforcer.  
  
“Nico,” I called, “what does this guy want from you?”  
  
 _Tell him, Nico di Angelo,_ Cupid said. _Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the real reason you ran from Camp Half-Blood, and why you are always alone._  
  
Nico let loose a guttural scream. The ground at his feet split open and skeletons crawled forth - dead Romans with missing hands and caved-in skulls, cracked ribs, and jaws unhinged. Some were dressed in the remnants of togas. Others had glinting pieces of armor hanging off their chests.  
  
 _Will you hide among the dead, as you always do?_ Cupid taunted.  
  
Waves of darkness rolled off the son of Hades. When they hit me, I almost lost consciousness - overwhelmed by hatred and fear and shame...  
  
Images flashed through my mind. I saw Nico and his sister on a snowy cliff in Maine, Percy Jackson protecting them from a manticore. Percy’s sword gleamed in the dark. He’d been the first demigod Nico had ever seen in action.  
  
Later, at Camp Half-Blood, Percy took Nico by the arm, promising to keep his sister Bianca safe. Nico believed him. Nico looked into his sea-green eyes and thought, _How can he possibly fail? This is a real hero_. He was Nico’s favorite game, Mythomagic, brought to life.  
  
I saw the moment when Percy returned and told Nico that Bianca was dead. Nico had screamed and called him a liar. He’d felt betrayed, but still... when the skeleton warriors attacked, he couldn’t let them harm Percy. Nico had called on the earth to swallow them up, and then he’d run away - terrified of his own powers, and his own emotions.  
  
I saw a dozen more scenes like this from Nico’s point of view... And they left me stunned, unable to move or speak.

Meanwhile, Nico’s Roman skeletons surged forward and grappled with something invisible.

Another scene flashed through my head. It was Chrissie, talking to one of the nicer Aphrodite campers about a date. Nico caught one name - Evangeline - and his whole world flipped upside down. _Have things changed that much?_ He'd thought.

I saw three more flashes of Chrissie.

The first, Nico asked how her date went. _Terrible_ , Chrissie had replied. _Ruined by a trio of dracanae. I can't date someone who is that bad even with her weapon of choice._

The second, Nico asked if her family knew that she liked girls.

 _Yeah, I've been out of the closet for years_. She had to explain what the phrase meant, and then explained that bisexuality was a thing.

The third and final scene was the two of them sitting in comfortable silence. I was confused, until it occurred to me that - for Nico, at least - being truly comfortable around someone wasn't easy.

Not with a secret that big.

The final flash I saw in my head was the last time Nico left Camp Half-Blood.

I landed back into the present. The god was struggling, flinging the dead aside, breaking off ribs and skulls, but the skeletons kept coming, pinning the god’s arms.

 _Interesting..._ Cupid said. _Do you have the strength, after all?_  
  
“I left Camp Half-Blood because of love,” Nico said. “Annabeth... she-”  
  
 _Still hiding,_ Cupid said, _smashing another skeleton to pieces. You do not have the strength._  
  
“Nico,” I managed to say, “it’s okay. I get it.”  
  
Nico glanced over, pain and misery washing across his face.  
  
“No, you don’t,” he said. “There’s no way _you_ can understand.”  
  
 _And so you run away again,_ Cupid chided. _From your friends, from yourself._  
  
“I don’t have friends!” Nico yelled. “I left Camp Half-Blood because I don’t belong! I’ll never belong!”

"No," Chrissie said. "Nico, you'll be accepted the moment you accept yourself!"  
  
The skeletons had Cupid pinned now, but the invisible god laughed so cruelly that I wanted to summon another bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, I doubted I had the strength.  
  
“Leave him alone, Cupid,” I croaked. “This isn’t...”  
  
My voice failed. I wanted to say it wasn’t Cupid’s business, but I realized this was _exactly_ Cupid’s business. Something Favonius said kept buzzing in my ears: _Are you shocked?_  
  
The story of Psyche finally made sense to me - why a mortal girl would be so afraid. Why she would risk breaking the rules to look the god of love in the face, because she feared he might be a monster.  
  
Psyche had been right. Cupid was a monster. Love was the most savage monster of all.  
  
Nico’s voice was like broken glass. “I- I wasn’t in love with Annabeth.”  
  
“You were jealous of her,” I said. “That’s why you didn’t want to be around her. Especially why you didn’t want to be around... him. It makes total sense.”  
  
All the fight and denial seemed to go out of Nico at once. The darkness subsided. The Roman dead collapsed into bones and crumbled to dust.  
  
“I hated myself,” Nico said. “I hated Percy Jackson.”  
  
Cupid became visible - a lean, muscular young man with snowy white wings, straight black hair, a simple white frock and jeans. The bow and quiver slung over his shoulder were no toys - they were weapons of war. His eyes were as red as blood, as if every Valentine in the world had been squeezed dry, distilled into one poisonous mixture. His face was handsome, but also harsh - as difficult to look at as a spotlight. He watched Nico with satisfaction, as if he’d identified the exact spot for his next arrow to make a clean kill.  
  
“I had a crush on Percy,” Nico spat. “That’s the truth. That’s the big secret.”  
  
He glared at Cupid. “Happy now?”  
  
For the first time, Cupid’s gaze seemed sympathetic. “Oh, I wouldn’t say Love always makes you happy.” His voice sounded smaller, much more human. “Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad. But at least you’ve faced it now. That’s the only way to conquer me.”  
  
Cupid dissolved into the wind.  
  
On the ground where he’d stood lay an ivory staff three feet long, topped with a dark globe of polished marble about the size of a baseball, nestled on the backs of three gold Roman eagles. The scepter of Diocletian.

Nico knelt and picked it up. He regarded me, as if waiting for an attack. “If the others found out-”  
  
“If the others found out,” I said, “you’d have that many more people to back you up, and to unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.”  
  
Nico scowled. I still felt the resentment and anger rippling off him.  
  
“But it’s your call,” I added. “Your decision to share or not. I can only tell you-”  
  
“I don’t feel that way anymore,” Nico muttered. “I mean... I gave up on Percy. I was young and impressionable, and I- I don’t...”

His voice cracked, and I could tell the guy was about to get teary-eyed. Whether Nico had really given up on Percy or not, I couldn’t imagine what it had been like for Nico all those years, keeping a secret that would’ve been unthinkable to share in the 1940s, denying who he was, feeling completely alone - even more isolated than other demigods.

"Nico." Chrissie held out her hand to help him up. He didn't need it - not physically, at least. He was just kneeling, and the scepter didn't look heavy. But the burden on his shoulders must have weighed more than anything in the word. He hesitated, doubt shimmering in his eyes, questioning whether to take her symbolic help.

Finally, he grabbed it, got up, and didn't let go.

“Hey, man,” I said. “I’ve seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did? That was maybe the bravest.”  
  
Nico looked at me uncertainly. “We should get back to the ship.”  
  
“Yeah. I can fly us-”  
  
“No,” Nico announced. “This time we’re shadow-traveling. I’ve had enough of the winds for a while.”


	79. Chapter 79

**ANNABETH**

_Darker, then sideways._

I couldn’t tell if it was actually darker, but the air did seem colder and thicker, as if we'd stepped into a different microclimate. I was reminded of San Francisco, where you could walk from one neighborhood to the next and the temperature might drop ten degrees. I wondered if the Titans had built their palace on Mount Tamalpais because the Bay Area reminded them of Tartarus.  
  
What a depressing thought. Only Titans would see such a beautiful place as a potential outpost of the abyss - a hellish home away from home.  
  
Bob struck off to the left. They followed. The air definitely got colder. I pressed against Percy for warmth. He put his arm around me. We'd entered some sort of forest. Towering black trees soared into the gloom, perfectly round and bare of branches, like monstrous hair follicles. The ground was smooth and pale.

With our luck, I thought, we’re marching through the armpit of Tartarus.  
  
Suddenly my senses were on high alert, as if somebody had snapped a rubber band against the base of my neck. I rested my hand on the trunk of the nearest tree.  
  
“What is it?” Percy raised his sword.  
  
Bob turned and looked back, confused. “We are stopping?”  
  
I held up my hand for silence. I wasn’t sure what had set me off. Nothing looked different. Then I realized the tree trunk was quivering. I wondered momentarily if it was the kitten’s purr; but Small Bob had fallen asleep on Large Bob’s shoulder.  
  
A few yards away, another tree shuddered.  
  
“Something’s moving above us,” I whispered. “Gather up.”  
  
Bob and Percy closed ranks with me, standing back to back.

I strained my eyes, trying to see above us in the dark, but nothing moved.  
  
I had almost decided I was being paranoid when the first monster dropped to the ground only five feet away.  
  
My first thought: The Furies.  
  
The creature looked almost exactly like one: a wrinkled hag with batlike wings, brass talons, and glowing red eyes. She wore a tattered dress of black silk, and her face was twisted and ravenous, like a demonic grandmother in the mood to kill.  
  
Bob grunted as another one dropped in front of him, and then another in front of Percy. Soon there were half a dozen surrounding them. More hissed in the trees above.  
  
They couldn’t be Furies, then. There were only three of those, and these winged hags didn’t carry whips. That didn’t comfort me. The monsters’ talons looked plenty dangerous.  
  
“What are you?” I demanded.  
  
 _The arai_ , hissed a voice. _The curses!_  
  
I tried to locate the speaker, but none of the demons had moved their mouths. Their eyes looked dead; their expressions were frozen, like a puppet’s. The voice simply floated overhead like a movie narrator’s, as if a single mind controlled all the creatures.  
  
“What- what do you want?” I asked, trying to maintain a tone of confidence.

The voice cackled maliciously. _To curse you, of course! To destroy you a thousand times in the name of Mother Night!_  
  
“Only a thousand times?” Percy murmured. “Oh, good…I thought we were in trouble.”  
  
The circle of demon ladies closed in.  
  
“Back off.” Percy jabbed Riptide at the nearest shriveled hag, but she only sneered.  
  
 _We are the arai_ , said that weird voice-over, like the entire forest was speaking. _You cannot destroy us._  
  
I pressed against his shoulder. “Don’t touch them,” I warned. “They’re the spirits of curses.”  
  
“Bob doesn’t like curses,” Bob decided. The skeleton kitten Small Bob disappeared inside his coveralls. Smart cat.  
  
The Titan swept his broom in a wide arc, forcing the spirits back, but they came in again like the tide.  
  
 _We serve the bitter and the defeated_ , said the arai. _We serve the slain who prayed for vengeance with their final breath. We have many curses to share with you._

The firewater in my stomach started crawling up my throat.

“I appreciate the offer,” Percy said. “But my mom told me not to accept curses from strangers.”  
  
The nearest demon lunged. Her claws extended like bony switchblades. Percy cut her in two, but as soon as she vaporized, the sides of his shirt turned red. He stumbled back, clamping his hand to his rib cage. His fingers came away wet and red.  
  
“Percy, you’re bleeding!” I cried. “Oh, gods, on both sides.”  
  
“Geryon,” Percy said. “This is how I killed him...”  
  
The spirits bared their fangs. More arai leaped from the black trees, flapping their leathery wings.  
  
 _Yes, they agreed. Feel the pain you inflicted upon Geryon. So many curses have been leveled at you, Percy Jackson. Which will you die from? Choose, or we will rip you apart!_  
  
“I don’t understand,” he muttered.  
  
Bob's helpful explanation didn't make me feel any better. “If you kill one, it gives you a curse.”  
  
“But if we don’t kill them...” I trailed off.  
  
“They’ll kill us anyway,” Percy finished.  
  
 _Choose!_ the arai cried. _Will you be crushed like Kampê? Or disintegrated like the young telkhines you slaughtered under Mount St. Helens? You have spread so much death and suffering, Percy Jackson. Let us repay you!_  
  
The winged hags pressed in, their breath sour, their eyes burning with hatred. If they really embodied the dying curses of every enemy Percy had ever destroyed... then Percy was in serious trouble. He’d faced a lot of enemies.

One of the demons lunged at me. Instinctively, I dodged. I brought my rock down on the old lady’s head and broke her into dust.  
  
It wasn’t like I had a choice. Any demigod would’ve done the same thing. But instantly I dropped my rock and cried in alarm.  
  
“I can’t see!” I touched my face, but I couldn't even tell where my hands were apart from by touch.  
  
 _Polyphemus cursed you when you tricked him with your invisibility in the Sea of Monsters. You called yourself Nobody. He could not see you. Now you will not see your attackers._  
  
“I’ve got you,” Percy promised next to me. He put his arm around me.  
  
I heard the flapping of the arai's wings, probably closing in, and Bob yelled, “SWEEP!”

I heard his broom whoosh over our heads. The sound of battle reached my ears, and I felt the way my eyes flickered around, but nothing worked. I briefly wondered if I'd ever see again - assuming we'd even survive the curses.  
  
“Bob, you okay?” Percy asked. “No curses?”  
  
“No curses for Bob!” Bob agreed.  
  
The arai snarled loudly. _The Titan is already cursed. Why should we torture him further? You, Percy Jackson, have already destroyed his memory._  
  
Silence fell.  
  
“Bob, don’t listen to them,” I said. “They’re evil!”  
  
“My memory... It was you?”  
  
 _Curse him, Titan!_ the arai urged. _Add to our numbers!_  
  
Percy hesitated, but only for a second. “Bob, it’s a long story. I didn’t want you to be my enemy. I tried to make you a friend.”  
  
 _By stealing your life_ , the arai said. _Leaving you in the palace of Hades to scrub floors!_  
  
I gripped Percy’s hand. “Which way?” I whispered. “If we have to run?”

My boyfriend hesitated, and I followed his train of thought: we'd never survive that way.  
  
“Bob, listen,” he tried again, “the arai want you to get angry. They spawn from bitter thoughts. Don’t give them what they want. We are your friends.”  
  
 _You see his face?_ the arai growled. _The boy cannot even convince himself. Did he visit you, after he stole your memory?_  
  
“No,” Bob murmured. “The other one did.”  
  
My thoughts moved sluggishly. “The other one?”  
  
“Nico. Nico visited. Told me about Percy, and his twin... his twin Chrissie. Said they were good. Said they were friends. That is why Bob helped.”  
  
“But...” Percy’s voice disintegrated like someone had hit it with a Celestial bronze blade.

The rustling of wings hit my ears again, and this time, Bob did not stop the arai.  
  
“Left!” Percy dragged me. I heard his sword slicing through the arai to clear a path. He probably brought down a dozen curses on himself, but he kept running.  
  
He wove between the trees, leading me at a full sprint despite the blindness. I was scared out of my mind, but I knew I had to trust him.  
  
Leathery wings beat the air above us. Angry hissing and the scuttling of clawed feet told me the demons were at our backs.  
  
As we apparently ran past one of the black trees, I heard Perch slash his sword across the trunk. I heard it topple, followed by the satisfying crunch of several dozen arai as they were smashed flat.  
  
 _If a tree falls in the forest and crushes a demon, does the tree get cursed?_  
  
Percy slashed down another trunk, then another. It bought us a few seconds, but not enough.  
  
Suddenly, Percy grabbed me.

“What?” I cried. “What is it?”  
  
“Cliff,” he gasped. “Big cliff.”  
  
“Which way, then?”

Silence fell, but not for long, sadly.

 _Did you have a nice walk?_ asked the collective voice, echoing all around us.


	80. Chapter 80

**PERCY**

I turned. The arai poured out of the woods, making a crescent around us. One grabbed Annabeth’s arm. Annabeth wailed in rage, judo-flipping the monster and dropping on its neck, putting her whole body weight into an elbow strike that would’ve made any pro wrestler proud.  
  
The demon dissolved, but when Annabeth got to her feet, she looked stunned and afraid as well as blind.  
  
“Percy?” she called, panic creeping into her voice.  
  
“I’m right here.”  
  
I tried to put my hand on her shoulder, but she wasn’t standing where I thought. I tried again, only to find she was several feet farther away. It was like trying to grab something in a tank of water, with the light shifting the image away.  
  
“Percy!” Annabeth’s voice cracked. “Why did you leave me?”

“I didn’t!” I turned on the arai, my arms shaking with anger. “What did you do to her?”  
  
 _We did nothing_ , the demons said. _Your beloved has unleashed a special curse - a bitter thought from someone you abandoned. You punished an innocent soul by leaving her in her solitude. Now her most hateful wish has come to pass: Annabeth feels her despair. She, too, will perish alone and abandoned._  
  
“Percy?” Annabeth spread her arms, trying to find me. The arai backed up, letting her stumble blindly through their ranks.  
  
“Who did I abandon?” I demanded. “I never-”  
  
Suddenly my stomach felt like it had dropped off the cliff.  
  
The words rang in my head: _An innocent soul. Alone and abandoned_. I remembered an island, a cave lit with soft glowing crystals, a dinner table on the beach tended by invisible air spirits.  
  
“She wouldn’t,” I mumbled. “She’d never curse me.”

The eyes of the demons blurred together like their voices. My sides throbbed. The pain in my chest was worse, as if someone were slowly twisting a dagger.  
  
Annabeth wandered among the demons, desperately calling my name. I longed to run to her, but I knew the arai wouldn’t allow it. The only reason they hadn’t killed her yet was that they were enjoying her misery.  
  
I clenched my jaw. I didn’t care how many curses I suffered. I had to keep these leathery old hags focused on me and protect Annabeth as long as he could.  
  
I yelled in fury and attacked them all.

For one exciting minute, I felt like I was winning. Riptide cut through the arai as though they were made of powdered sugar. One panicked and ran face-first into a tree. Another screeched and tried to fly away, but I sliced off her wings and sent her spiraling into the chasm.  
  
Each time a demon disintegrated, I felt a heavier sense of dread as another curse settled on me. Some were harsh and painful: a stabbing in the gut, a burning sensation like I was being blasted by a blowtorch. Some were subtle: a chill in the blood, an uncontrollable tic in his right eye.

Seriously, who curses you with their dying breath and says: _I hope your eye twitches!_  
  
I knew that I’d killed a lot of monsters, but I’d never really thought about it from the monsters’ point of view. Now all their pain and anger and bitterness poured over me, sapping my strength.  
  
The arai just kept coming. For every one I cut down, six more seemed to appear.  
  
My sword arm grew tired. My body ached, and my vision blurred. I tried to make my way toward Annabeth, but she was just out of reach, calling my name as she wandered among the demons.  
  
As I blundered toward her, a demon pounced and sank its teeth into my thigh. I roared. I sliced the demon to dust, but immediately fell to my knees.  
  
My mouth burned worse than when I had swallowed the firewater of the Phlegethon. I doubled over, shuddering and retching, as a dozen fiery snakes seemed to work their way down my esophagus.  
  
 _You have chosen_ , said the voice of the arai, _the curse of Phineas... an excellent painful death._

I tried to speak. my tongue felt like it was being microwaved. I remembered the old blind king who had chased harpies through Portland with a WeedWacker. I had challenged him to a contest, and the loser had drunk a deadly vial of gorgon’s blood. I didn’t remember the old blind man muttering a final curse, but as Phineas dissolved and returned to the Underworld, he probably hadn’t wished me a long and happy life.  
  
After my victory then, Gaea had warned me: _Do not press your luck. When your death comes, I promise it will be much more painful than gorgon’s blood._  
  
Now I was in Tartarus, dying from gorgon’s blood plus a dozen other agonizing curses, while I watched my girlfriend stumble around, helpless and blind and believing I’d abandoned her. I clutched my sword. My knuckles started to steam. White smoke curled off my forearms.  
  
 _I won’t die like this_ , I thought.  
  
Not only because it was painful and insultingly lame, but because Annabeth needed me. Once I was dead, the demons would turn their attention to her. I couldn’t leave her alone.  
  
The arai clustered around me, snickering and hissing.  
  
 _His head will erupt first_ , the voice speculated.  
  
 _No,_ the voice answered itself from another direction. _He will combust all at once._  
  
They were placing bets on how I would die... what sort of scorch mark I would leave on the ground.  
  
“Bob,” I croaked. “I need you.”  
  
A hopeless plea. I could barely hear myself. Why should Bob answer his call twice? The Titan knew the truth now. I was no friend.  
  
I raised my eyes one last time. My surroundings seemed to flicker. The sky boiled and the ground blistered.

I realized that what I saw of Tartarus was only a watered-down version of its true horror - only what my demigod brain could handle. The worst of it was veiled, the same way the Mist veiled monsters from mortal sight. Now as I died, I began to see the truth.  
  
The air was the breath of Tartarus. All these monsters were just blood cells circulating through his body. Everything I saw was a dream in the mind of the dark god of the pit.  
  
This must have been the way Nico had seen Tartarus, and it had almost destroyed his sanity. Nico... one of the many people I hadn’t treated well enough. Annabeth and I had only made it this far through Tartarus because Nico di Angelo had behaved like Bob’s true friend.  
  
 _You see the horror of the pit?_ the arai said soothingly. _Give up, Percy Jackson. Isn’t death better than enduring this place?_  
  
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.  
  
 _He apologizes!_ The arai shrieked with delight. _He regrets his failed life, his crimes against the children of Tartarus!_  
  
“No,” I said. “I’m sorry, Bob. I should’ve been honest with you. Please... forgive me. Protect Annabeth.”  
  
I didn’t expect Bob to hear me or care, but it felt right to clear my conscience. I couldn’t blame anyone else for my troubles. Not the gods. Not Bob. I couldn’t even blame Calypso, the girl I’d left alone on that island. Maybe she’d turned bitter and cursed my girlfriend out of despair. Still... I should have followed up with Calypso, made sure the gods sprang her from her exile on Ogygia like they’d promised. I hadn’t treated her any better than I’d treated Bob. I hadn’t even thought much about her, though her moonlace plant still bloomed in my mom’s window box.  
  
It took all my remaining effort, but I got to my feet. Steam rose from my whole body. My legs shook. My insides churned like a volcano.  
  
At least I could go out fighting. I raised Riptide.  
  
But before I could strike, all the arai in front of me exploded into dust.  
  
Bob seriously knew how to use a broom.

He slashed back and forth, destroying the demons one after the other while Small Bob the kitten sat on his shoulder, arching his back and hissing.  
  
In a matter of seconds, the arai were gone. Most had been vaporized. The smart ones had flown off into the darkness, shrieking in terror.  
  
I wanted to thank the Titan, but my voice wouldn’t work. My legs buckled. My ears rang. Through a red glow of pain, I saw Annabeth a few yards away, wandering blindly toward the edge of the cliff.  
  
“Uh!” I grunted.  
  
Bob followed my gaze. He bounded toward Annabeth and scooped her up. She yelled and kicked, pummeling Bob’s gut, but Bob didn’t seem to care. He carried her over to me and put her down gently.  
  
The Titan touched her forehead. “Owie.”  
  
Annabeth stopped fighting. Her eyes cleared. “Where- what-?”  
  
She saw me, and a series of expressions flashed across her face - relief, joy, shock, horror. “What’s wrong with him?” she cried. “What happened?”  
  
She cradled my shoulders and wept into my scalp.  
  
I wanted to tell her it was okay, but of course it wasn’t. I couldn’t even feel my body anymore. My consciousness was like a small helium balloon, loosely tied to the top of my head. It had no weight, no strength. It just kept expanding, getting lighter and lighter. I knew that soon it would either burst or the string would break, and his life would float away.  
  
Annabeth took my face in her hands. She kissed me and tried to wipe the dust and sweat from my eyes.  
  
Bob loomed over us, his broom planted like a flag. His face was unreadable, luminously white in the dark.  
  
“Lots of curses,” Bob said. “Percy has done bad things to monsters.”  
  
“Can you fix him?” Annabeth pleaded. “Like you did with my blindness? Fix Percy!”  
  
Bob frowned. He picked at the name tag on his uniform like it was a scab.  
  
Annabeth tried again. “Bob-”  
  
“Iapetus,” Bob said, his voice a low rumble. “Before Bob. It was Iapetus.”  
  
The air was absolutely still. I felt helpless, barely connected to the world.  
  
“I like Bob better.” Annabeth’s voice was surprisingly calm. “Which do you like?”  
  
The Titan regarded her with his pure silver eyes. “I do not know anymore.”  
  
He crouched next to her and studied me. Bob’s face looked haggard and careworn, as if he suddenly felt the weight of all his centuries.  
  
“I promised,” he murmured. “Nico asked me to help. I do not think Iapetus or Bob likes breaking promises.” He touched my forehead.  
  
“Owie,” the Titan murmured. “Very big owie.”  
  
I sank back into my body. The ringing in hmys ears faded. My vision cleared. I still felt like I had swallowed a deep fryer. My insides bubbled. I could sense that the poison had only been slowed, not removed.  
  
But I was alive.  
  
I tried to meet Bob’s eyes, to express my gratitude. My head lolled against my chest.

“Bob cannot cure this,” Bob said. “Too much poison. Too many curses piled up.”  
  
Annabeth hugged my shoulders. I wanted to say: _I can feel that now. Ow. Too tight._  
  
“What can we do, Bob?” Annabeth asked. “Is there water anywhere? Water might heal him.”  
  
“No water,” Bob said. “Tartarus is bad.”  
  
 _I noticed_ , I wanted to yell.  
  
At least the Titan called himself Bob. Even if he blamed me for taking his memory, maybe he would help Annabeth if I didn’t make it.  
  
“No,” Annabeth insisted. “No, there has to be a way. Something to heal him.”

Bob placed his hand on my chest. A cold tingle like eucalyptus oil spread across my sternum, but as soon as Bob lifted his hand, the relief stopped. My lungs felt as hot as lava again.  
  
“Tartarus kills demigods,” Bob said. “It heals monsters, but you do not belong. Tartarus will not heal Percy. The pit hates your kind.”  
  
“I don’t care,” Annabeth said. “Even here, there has to be someplace he can rest, some kind of cure he can take. Maybe back at the altar of Hermes, or-”

In the distance, a deep voice bellowed - a voice that I recognized, unfortunately.  
  
“I SMELL HIM!” roared the giant. “BEWARE, SON OF POSEIDON! I COME FOR YOU!”  
  
“Polybotes,” Bob said. “He hates Poseidon and his children. He is very close now.”  
  
Annabeth struggled to get me to my feet. I hated making her work so hard, but I felt like a sack of billiard balls. Even with Annabeth supporting almost all my weight, I could barely stand.  
  
“Bob, I’m going on, with or without you,” she said. “Will you help?”  
  
The kitten Small Bob mewed and began to purr, rubbing against Bob’s chin.  
  
Bob looked at me, and I wished U could read the Titan’s expression. Was he angry, or just thoughtful? Was he planning revenge, or was he just feeling hurt because I had lied about being his friend?

“There is one place,” Bob said at last. “There is a giant who might know what to do.”  
  
Annabeth almost dropped me. “A giant. Uh, Bob, giants are bad.”  
  
“One is good,” Bob insisted. “Trust me, and I will take you... unless Polybotes and the others catch us first.”


	81. Chapter 81

**CHRISSIE**

I held hands with both boys as we walked away from the ruins. The decision not to invoke any more magic - demigod powers included - in that place had been unanimous.

I must've looked more troubled than I'd realized, deep in thought about the curse, because Jason squeezed my hand.

"You okay, Chris?"

I shared a look with Nico.

"For now," I said, but my stupid voice betrayed me and cracked. This time it was Nico who tightened his grip for comfort. Unfortunately, Jason was not made of the same emotional density of my twin, and he instantly knew something was going on. I saw it in his eyes.

He stopped walking and, worst of all, let go of my hand.

"Somethings wrong," he said. "Something you haven't talked to me about."

His gaze flicked to Nico, and I almost winced at the pain in his eyes, an unspoken message: _Something you trusted him with, but not me_.

"Jase-"

"What happened to not keeping secrets from each other?"

I did wince this time. Jason was a pretty easy-going boyfriend, but he hated secrets. One of the most important unspoken rules of our relationship had always been to communicate.

Now, I knew that I'd have to face him sooner or later, but I knew he'd try to stop the curse. It was hard enough knowing I was gonna end up in Tartarus, knowing I'd have to leave him behind. I knew that if he tried to stop it, I would break down completely.

"It wasn't a matter of trust," Nico explained.

"Then what?" The winds picked up around us - Jason's doing - and the earth trembled - my fault. "What could possibly be bad enough that I could not handle hearing it?"

My mouth opened and closed, but I wasn't able to bring out any sound. The ground at my feet split, little cracks spreading out like cobwebs.

"Chris, for the gods' sake, _what is it_?"

"It's fucking _Tartarus_ , okay?" My chest felt like it was imploding, but there was no stopping the verbal flood now.

" _Curse brings down the last of three_ , Jason. Percy and Annabeth are there, and I'm up here. It's unnatural for us, this level of separation on a quest. It's only a matter of time before I somehow get dragged down there."

Jason took a step toward me, so I stepped back. In that moment, I didn't want him near me. My vision blurred with tears, but I kept going.

"I'm a time bomb, and I _know_ you. You'd try to stop it from happening. Well, guess what: there is no stopping it. It's happening right now. I can _feel_ it. The boundaries between earth and the Underworld are stirring."

I paused to take a shaky breath.

"And yes, I trusted Nico with this, so he could explain to the rest of the crew when the time comes. But this was my burden to bear."

Before either of them could say anything, I felt my control over the earth slip away. My eyes widened as the cracks in the ground expanded. I shoved Nico away, sending him toppling into Jason, and used what little powers I had left to crack the earth between us so they'd fall back - away from me.

The worst part?

I felt how deep I was about to fall through the crack opening in the earth, all the way from Tartarus.

I closed my eyes, and the ground opened up beneath me.


	82. Chapter 82

**ANNABETH**  
  
Cozy.  
  
I never thought I would describe anything in Tartarus that way, but despite the fact that the giant’s hut was as big as a planetarium and constructed of bones, mud, and drakon skin, it definitely felt cozy.  
  
In the center blazed a bonfire made of pitch and bone; yet the smoke was white and odorless, rising through the hole in the middle of the ceiling. The floor was covered with dry marsh grass and gray wool rugs. At one end lay a massive bed of sheepskins and drakon leather. At the other end, freestanding racks were hung with drying plants, cured leather, and what looked like strips of drakon jerky. The whole place smelled of stew, smoke, basil, and thyme.

The only thing that worried me was the flock of sheep huddled in a pen at the back of the hut.  
  
I remembered the cave of Polyphemus the Cyclops, who ate demigods and sheep indiscriminately. I wondered if giants had similar tastes.  
  
Part of me was tempted to run, but Bob had already placed Percy in the giant’s bed, where he nearly disappeared in the wool and leather. Small Bob hopped off Percy and kneaded the blankets, purring so strongly the bed rattled like a Thousand-Finger Massage.

Damasen plodded to the bonfire. He tossed his drakon meat into a hanging pot that seemed to be made from an old monster skull, then picked up a ladle and began to stir.  
  
I didn’t want to be the next ingredient in his stew, but I’d come here for a reason. I took a deep breath and marched up to Damasen. “My friend is dying. Can you cure him or not?”  
  
My voice caught on the word _friend_. Percy was a lot more than that. Even _boyfriend_ really didn’t cover it. We’d been through so much together, at this point Percy was part of me - a sometimes annoying part, sure, but definitely a part I could not live without.  
  
Damasen looked down at me, glowering under his bushy red eyebrows. I had met large scary humanoids before, but Damasen unsettled me in a different way. He didn’t seem hostile. He radiated sorrow and bitterness, as if he were so wrapped up in his own misery that he resented me for trying to make him focus on anything else.  
  
“I don’t hear words like those in Tartarus,” the giant grumbled. “Friend. Promise.”

I crossed my arms. “How about gorgon’s blood? Can you cure that, or did Bob overstate your talents?”  
  
Angering a twenty-foot-tall drakon slayer probably wasn’t a wise strategy, but Percy was dying. I didn’t have time for diplomacy.  
  
Damasen scowled at me. “You question my talents? A half-dead mortal straggles into my swamp and questions my talents?”  
  
“Yep,” I said.  
  
“Hmph.” Damasen handed Bob the ladle. “Stir.”  
  
As Bob tended the stew, Damasen perused his drying racks, plucking various leaves and roots. He popped a fistful of plant material into his mouth, chewed it up, then spat it into a clump of wool.  
  
“Cup of broth,” Damasen ordered.  
  
Bob ladled some stew juice into a hollow gourd. He handed it to Damasen, who dunked the chewed-up gunk ball and stirred it with his finger.  
  
“Gorgon’s blood,” he muttered. “Hardly a challenge for my talents.”

He lumbered to the bedside and propped up Percy with one hand. Small Bob the kitten sniffed the broth and hissed. He scratched the sheets with his paws like he wanted to bury it.  
  
“You’re going to feed him that?” I asked.  
  
The giant glared at her. “Who is the healer here? You?”  
  
I shut my mouth. I watched as the giant made Percy sip the broth. Damasen handled him with surprising gentleness, murmuring words of encouragement that I couldn’t quite catch.  
  
With each sip, Percy’s color improved. He drained the cup, and his eyes fluttered open. He looked around with a dazed expression, spotted me, and gave me a drunken grin. “Feel great.”  
  
His eyes rolled up in his head. He fell back in the bed and began to snore.  
  
“A few hours of sleep,” Damasen pronounced. “He’ll be good as new.”  
  
I sobbed with relief.  
  
“Thank you,” I said.  
  
Damasen stared at her mournfully. “Oh, don’t thank me. You’re still doomed. And I require payment for my services.”  
  
My mouth went dry. “Uh... what sort of payment?”

“A story.” The giant’s eyes glittered. “It gets boring in Tartarus. You can tell me your story while we eat, eh?”  
  
I felt uneasy telling a giant about our plans.  
  
Still, Damasen was a good host. He’d saved Percy. His drakon-meat stew was excellent (especially compared to firewater). His hut was warm and comfortable, and for the first time since plunging into Tartarus, I felt like I could relax. Which was ironic, since I was having dinner with a Titan and a giant.  
  
I told Damasen about my life and my adventures with Percy. I told him about his twin, Chrissie, and how she had somehow befriended Nico di Angelo. I explained how Percy had met Bob, wiped his memory in the River Lethe, and left him in the care of Hades.  
  
“Percy was trying to do something good,” I promised Bob. “He didn’t know Hades would be such a creep.”  
  
Even to me, it didn’t sound convincing. Hades was always a creep.  
  
I thought about what the arai had said - how Nico di Angelo had been the only person to visit Bob in the palace of the Underworld. Nico was one of the least outgoing, least friendly demigods I knew. Yet he’d been kind to Bob. By convincing Bob that Percy was a friend, Nico had inadvertently saved our lives. I wondered if I would ever figure that guy out.

Bob washed his bowl with his squirt bottle and rag.  
  
Damasen made a rolling gesture with his spoon. “Continue your story, Annabeth Chase.”  
  
I explained about our quest in the Argo II. When I got to the part about stopping Gaea from waking, I faltered. “She’s, um... she’s your mom, right?”  
  
Damasen scraped his bowl. His face was covered with old poison burns, gouges, and scar tissue, so it looked like the surface of an asteroid.  
  
“Yes,” he said. “And Tartarus is my father.” He gestured around the hut. “As you can see, I was a disappointment to my parents. They expected... more from me.”  
  
I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that I was sharing soup with a twenty-foot-tall lizard-legged man whose parents were Earth and the Pit of Darkness.  
  
Olympian gods were hard enough to imagine as parents, but at least they resembled humans. The old primordial gods like Gaea and Tartarus... How could you leave home and ever be independent of your parents, when they literally encompassed the entire world?  
  
“So...” she said. “You don’t mind us fighting your mom?”  
  
Damasen snorted like a bull. “Best of luck. At present, it’s my father you should worry about. With him opposing you, you have no chance to survive.”  
  
Suddenly I didn’t feel so hungry. I put my bowl on the floor. Small Bob came over to check it out.  
  
“Opposing us how?” I asked.  
  
“All of this.” Damasen cracked a drakon bone and used a splinter as a toothpick. “All that you see is the body of Tartarus, or at least one manifestation of it. He knows you are here. He tries to thwart your progress at every step. My brethren hunt you. It is remarkable you have lived this long, even with the help of Iapetus.”  
  
Bob scowled when he heard his name. “The defeated ones hunt us, yes. They will be close behind now.”  
  
Damasen spat out his toothpick. “I can obscure your path for a while, long enough for you to rest. I have power in this swamp. But eventually, they will catch you.”  
  
“My friends must reach the Doors of Death,” Bob said. “That is the way out.”  
  
“Impossible,” Damasen muttered. “The Doors are too well guarded.”  
  
I sat forward. “But you know where they are?”  
  
“Of course. All of Tartarus flows down to one place: his heart. The Doors of Death are there. But you cannot make it there alive with only Iapetus.”  
  
“Then come with us,” I said. “Help us.”  
  
“HA!”  
  
I jumped. In the bed, Percy muttered deliriously in his sleep, “Ha, ha, ha.”  
  
“Child of Athena,” the giant said, “I am not your friend. I helped mortals once, and you see where it got me.”  
  
“You helped mortals?” I knew a lot about Greek legends, but I drew a total blank on the name Damasen. “I- I don’t understand.”  
  
“Bad story,” Bob explained. “Good giants have bad stories. Damasen was created to oppose Ares.”  
  
“Yes,” the giant agreed. “Like all my brethren, I was born to answer a certain god. My foe was Ares. But Ares was the god of war. And so, when I was born-”  
  
“You were his opposite,” I guessed. “You were peaceful.”  
  
“Peaceful for a giant, at least.” Damasen sighed. “I wandered the fields of Maeonia, in the land you now call Turkey. I tended my sheep and collected my herbs. It was a good life. But I would not fight the gods. My mother and father cursed me for that. The final insult: One day the Maeonian drakon killed a human shepherd, a friend of mine, so I hunted the creature down and slew it, thrusting a tree straight through its mouth. I used the power of the earth to regrow the tree’s roots, planting the drakon firmly in the ground. I made sure it would terrorize mortals no more. That was a deed Gaea could not forgive.”  
  
“Because you helped someone?”  
  
“Yes.” Damasen looked ashamed. “Gaea opened the earth, and I was consumed, exiled here in the belly of my father Tartarus, where all the useless flotsam collects—all the bits of creation he does not care for.” The giant plucked a flower out of his hair and regarded it absently. “They let me live, tending my sheep, collecting my herbs, so I might know the uselessness of the life I chose. Every day - or what passes for day in this lightless place - the Maeonian drakon re-forms and attacks me. Killing it is my endless task.”  
  
I gazed around the hut, trying to imagine how many eons Damasen had been exiled here - slaying the drakon, collecting its bones and hide and meat, knowing it would attack again the next day. I could barely imagine surviving a week in Tartarus. Exiling your own son here for centuries - that was beyond cruel.  
  
“Break the curse,” I blurted out. “Come with us.”  
  
Damasen chuckled sourly. “As simple as that. Don’t you think I have tried to leave this place? It is impossible. No matter which direction I travel, I end up here again. The swamp is the only thing I know - the only destination I can imagine. No, little demigod. My curse has overtaken me. I have no hope left.”

“No hope,” Bob echoed.  
  
“There must be a way.” I couldn’t stand the expression on the giant’s face. It reminded me of my own father, the few times he’d confessed to her that he still loved Athena. He had looked so sad and defeated, wishing for something he knew was impossible.  
  
“Bob has a plan to reach the Doors of Death,” I insisted. “He said we could hide in some sort of Death Mist.”  
  
“Death Mist?” Damasen scowled at Bob. “You would take them to Akhlys?”  
  
“It is the only way,” Bob said.  
  
“You will die,” Damasen said. “Painfully. In darkness. Akhlys trusts no one and helps no one.”  
  
Bob looked like he wanted to argue, but he pressed his lips together and remained silent.  
  
“Is there another way?” I asked.  
  
“No,” Damasen said. “The Death Mist... that is the best plan. Unfortunately, it is a terrible plan.”  
  
I felt like I was hanging over the pit again, unable to pull myself up, unable to maintain my grip - left with no good options.

“But isn’t it worth trying?” I asked. “You could return to the mortal world. You could see the sun again.”  
  
Damasen’s eyes were like the sockets of the drakon’s skull - dark and hollow, devoid of hope. He flicked a broken bone into the fire and rose to his full height - a massive red warrior in sheepskin and drakon leather, with dried flowers and herbs in his hair. Annabeth could see how he was the anti-Ares. Ares was the worst god, blustery and violent. Damasen was the best giant, kind and helpful... and for that, he’d been cursed to eternal torment.  
  
“Get some sleep,” the giant said. “I will prepare supplies for your journey. I am sorry, but I cannot do more.”

I wanted to argue, but as soon as he said sleep, my body betrayed me, despite my resolution never to sleep in Tartarus again. My belly was full. The fire made a pleasant crackling sound. The herbs in the air reminded me of the hills around Camp Half-Blood in the summer, when the satyrs and naiads gathered wild plants in the lazy afternoons.  
  
“Maybe a little sleep,” I agreed.  
  
Bob scooped me up like a rag doll. I didn’t protest. He set me next to Percy on the giant’s bed, and I closed my eyes.


	83. Chapter 83

**CHRISSIE**

I seriously wished I could've landed anywhere other than in the Phlegethon.

The liquid fire made my skin burn so deeply, I barely made it to the river bank, despite the fact that it was only a few feet from where I landed.

I crawled onto the ground, which wasn't much better, seeing as it was made up of glass shards - or something like it, at least.

I barely remembered anything from between the ground opening and the feeling of a gazillion degrees on my skin. I must've blacked out or something.

I vaguely remembered something Annabeth said about physics and falling, but immediately shoved the thought aside, because I had to find the daughter of Athena in question. And my brother. _Gods_ , Percy. I knew for a fact that he was passed out too, when I was falling. Don't ask me how.

With a start, I realized I could use that. I closed my eyes and concentrated so hard I almost blacked out again, but I felt a tug in my gut, pulling me to my left.

I almost laughed at the stupid loophole I'd found. Thank the gods for our weird twin-sixth sense.

I managed to stand up, and took my dagger handles out of my pockets. I almost wanted to shake them, mainly for the comfort of having the blades ready, but I didn't know how that could affect monster attraction, so I decided against it.

 _Percy_ , I thought, _I'm coming_.

**PERCY**

_Percy, I'm coming._

I sat bolt upright right as I heard the roar. “What? What-where-what?”  
  
“It’s okay.” Annabeth took my arm.  
  
When I registered that we were together in a giant’s bed with a skeleton cat, I looked more confused than ever. “That noise... where are we?”  
  
“How much do you remember?” she asked.  
  
I frowned.  
  
“I- the demon grandmothers- and then... Chrissie's voice.”  
  
Damasen loomed over the bed. “There is no time, little mortals. The drakon is returning. I fear its roar will draw the others - my brethren, hunting you. They will be here within minutes.”  
  
“What will you tell them when they get here?” Annabeth asked.

Damasen’s mouth twitched. “What is there to tell? Nothing of significance, as long as you are gone.”  
  
He tossed us two drakon-leather satchels. “Clothes, food, drink.”  
  
Bob was wearing a similar but larger pack. He leaned on his broom, gazing at us.  
  
Suddenly Annabeth sat upright.

“The Prophecy of Eight,” she said.  
  
I had already climbed out of the bed and was shouldering my pack. I frowned at her. “What about it?”  
  
Annabeth grabbed Damasen’s hand, startling the giant. His brow furrowed.  
  
“You have to come with us,” she pleaded. “The prophecy says foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. I thought it meant Romans and Greeks, but that’s not it. The line means us - demigods, a Titan, a giant. We need you to close the Doors!”  
  
The drakon roared outside, closer this time. Damasen gently pulled his hand away.  
  
“No, child,” he murmured. “My curse is here. I cannot escape it.”

“Yes, you can,” Annabeth said. “Don’t fight the drakon. Figure out a way to break the cycle! Find another fate.”  
  
Damasen shook his head. “Even if I could, I cannot leave this swamp. It is the only destination I can picture.”  
  
Annabeth’s shook her head. “There is another destination. Look at me! Remember my face. When you’re ready, come find me. We’ll take you to the mortal world with us. You can see the sunlight and stars.”  
  
The ground shook. The drakon was close now, stomping through the marsh, blasting trees and moss with its poison spray. Farther away, I heard the voice of the giant Polybotes, urging his followers forward. “THE SEA GOD’S SON! HE IS CLOSE!”  
  
“Annabeth,” I said urgently, “that’s our cue to leave.”  
  
Damasen took something from his belt. In his massive hand, the white shard looked like another toothpick; but when he offered it to Annabeth, I realized it was a sword - a blade of dragon bone, honed to a deadly edge, with a simple grip of leather.

“One last gift for the child of Athena,” rumbled the giant. “I cannot have you walking to your death unarmed. Now, go! Before it is too late.”  
  
Annabeth took the sword in silence.  
  
“We must leave,” Bob urged as his kitten climbed onto his shoulder.  
  
“He’s right, Annabeth,” I said.  
  
We ran for the entrance. We didn’t look, but I heard Damasen behind us, shouting his battle cry at the advancing drakon, his voice cracking with despair as he faced his old enemy yet again.

**CHRISSIE**

By the time I got to the cabin, my twin was gone.

Thankfully, though, so were the other giants.

I was ready to collapse, with various arai slashes on my arm, a stab in my gut from a dracanae duo I'd ran into, three arrows in my left leg from a monster I hadn't been able to see, and both of my ankles heavily swollen and painfully throbbing from the amount of times I stumbled and sprained them.

But Percy was somewhere else, and I had to find him.

I knocked on the big door, and the giant from my dreams opened it.

"You're late," he said.

"I'm aware."

He let me in and started mixing some herbs into a bowl of broth.

"Percy and Annabeth, where did they go?"

I had to lean on the bed to remain standing.

"Bob took them to Akhlys. He plans to hide them in Death Mist, to guide them to the Doors."

I frowned. "Bob the Titan?"

"Yes." He handed me the bowl of stew and herbs, along with a spoon made out of bone. "Eat this. It'll sustain you, and mostly heal you."

I quickly ate a few bites. "I assume my twin and best friend told you about our plans?"

"They have. And I know what I must do. The problem is getting you to the Doors before I act out my part."

"I have to find Percy. We're stronger together."

"I noticed."

"Then you know I have to follow their route to the Doors."

"You're more clever than people give you credit for, earthshaker. But you have yet to figure out your powers."

"I know," I grumbled. "I can't seem to control them."

"Dear child, that is true for most Olympian descendants. Your kind are special."

"Special?" I frowned.

"I cannot explain to you; the Fates will not have it. But I believe you are strategic enough to figure it out on your own."

**PERCY**

I felt homesick for the swamp.  
  
I never thought I’d miss sleeping in a giant’s leather bed in a drakon-bone hut in a festering cesspool, but right now that sounded like Elysium.  
  
Annabeth, Bob and I stumbled along in the darkness, the air thick and cold, the ground alternating patches of pointy rocks and pools of muck. The terrain seemed to be designed so that I could never let my guard down. Even walking ten feet was exhausting.

I had started out from the giant’s hut feeling strong again, my head clear, my belly full of drakon jerky from our packs of provisions. Now my legs were sore. Every muscle ached. I pulled a makeshift tunic of drakon leather over my shredded T-shirt, but it did nothing to keep out the chill.  
  
My focus narrowed to the ground in front of me. Nothing existed except for that and Annabeth at his side.

Except for Chrissie.

I couldn't explain it, but she felt close.   
  
It wasn't possible. She had to be up in the mortal world, relatively safe, on the Argo II with her boyfriend and our friends.

But my gut had never been wrong about these sort of things.

It had to be the pit speaking to me. The thought of her being here alone without help was enough to break my spirits, let alone all of the other influences I felt, tearing my mood down.  
  
I wondered how Nico had survived down here alone without going insane. That kid had more strength than I had given him credit for. The deeper we traveled, the harder it became to stay focused.  
  
“This place is worse than the River Cocytus,” I muttered.  
  
“Yes,” Bob called back happily. “Much worse! It means we are close.”  
  
 _Close to what?_ I wondered. But I didn’t have the strength to ask. I noticed Small Bob the cat had hidden himself in Bob’s coveralls again, which reinforced my opinion that the kitten was the smartest one in their group.  
  
Annabeth laced her fingers through mine. In the light of my bronze sword, her face was beautiful.

“We’re together,” she reminded him. “We’ll get through this.”  
  
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Piece of cake.”  
  
“But next time,” she said, “I want to go somewhere different on a date.”  
  
“Paris was nice,” I recalled.  
  
She managed a smile. Months ago, before I got amnesia, we’d had dinner in Paris one night, compliments of Hermes. That seemed like another lifetime.  
  
“I’d settle for New Rome,” she offered. “As long as you’re there with me.”  
  
Man, Annabeth was awesome. For a moment, I actually remembered what it was like to feel happy. I had an amazing girlfriend. We could have a future together.

Then the darkness dispersed with a massive sigh, like the last breath of a dying god. In front of them was a clearing - a barren field of dust and stones. In the center, about twenty yards away, knelt the gruesome figure of a woman, her clothes tattered, her limbs emaciated, her skin leathery green. Her head was bent as she sobbed quietly, and the sound shattered all my hopes.  
  
I realized that life was pointless. My struggles were for nothing. This woman cried as if mourning the death of the entire world.  
  
“We’re here,” Bob announced. “Akhlys can help.”


End file.
